Google play meaning of installs metric

user_3741859 0
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I admit I'm new in the android community but I search for hours and I can't find a valid well documented answer.

When viewing application in the play store(web or app) there is a metric which is in ranges called installs:

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Now, I really don't care about the actual number. I do want to know on what it based on. I found couple of conflicted answers across the web none with reference to an actual google documentation.

The way I see it there is 3 options:

  1. Plain installs - The number of times the app was installed from the store regardless to any events in the past.
  2. Installs by user - The number of unique users(gmail accounts) which installed the app overtime. One install for each user.
  3. Install by device - The number of unique devices which the app was installed on(It means that user could appear several times if it have more than one device or upgraded his phone etc.)

I would love to get answer with references if it's not hard because I do find conflicting opinions over the internet.

google-play android
2 Answers

In very simple terms, Its total installs from play store. If a device installs an app and uninstall from play store, the install count is decremented. And if installed again, count will be increased.

But if installed using android OS, by drag and drop to uninstall, and is not connected to internet, it cant be updated.In that case, if installed again from play store, will increment install count by one.

And of course, its total count on phone/android TV if available on android TV play store ( ** Note: ** Not all app that are on Android phone OS play store, are available on android TV os play store, EX- PUBG mobile. Dialers etc)

For, reference, this is starting point, https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/139628?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en and you can keep digging as per your time and interests. Read all answers and specially, this section on that page.

Install-related statistics

Thanks

user_118873480

Install by device

There are less than 3 billion Android devices worldwide.

Installs by user

There are less than 2 billion Android users worldwide.

Plain installs

Whatsapp has over 5 billion installs. Which can be between 5bn to 10bn but less than 10bn.

So it is obvious it is the number of total installs regardless of the other factors. It means if you install an app on your phone, and then change your ROM to a custom ROM and then install the app again, this will count as 2 installs on the store.

user_28550590
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