When android was in its infancy, there lied an issue with the Play Store (back then called Android Market) being the “Wild Wild West”. It was full of all kind of apps and some that were loaded with malware. But things have changed as Google cleaned things up. But even with Google cleaning things up, there still are apps that are just buggy and are not worth the download.
What I am going to do today is explain the process I use to determine which app to try, and which to avoid. So let’s get started.
Step 1: You’re going to want to click on the Play Store icon. For me it is on my home screen.
1b: If it is not on your home screen, then you will need to drag up on the white arrow to get to your app drawer.
1c: Once you get to the app drawer, click on the play store icon.
2: Once in the Play Store, type in what you are looking for. In this tutorial, I want an app to help me track my intermittent fasting.
3) Once you hit enter, you will likely see the highest rated apps up top, along with those that are paid advertisements.
4) This is where you will see that because an app is rated high (5/5), does not mean it is an app that may be worth downloading.
5) You will see that this app has about 1000+ downloads and only 5 reviews. When I see a review count so low it raises a red flag. Those 5 reviews could be friends or the developer themselves trying to hype up the app. Now unless you know the developer, then I would pass. I do know some developers who are trying to get their apps out there, so their review and download numbers are on the low side. In this case, I don’t know the developer.
6) Let’s find another app with higher numbers, both in downloads and reviews.
7) This app (BodyFast Intermittent Fasting: Coach, diet tracker) has the numbers and ratings that I would consider install worthy. Next I like to look at the latest reviews. This will allow me to see what people liked or disliked about the apps. If a bunch of ratings note that they noticed issues after a recent update, or they did not like a certain feature, I’ll look to see if I have those issues. Or If I don’t want to risk dealing with the issue (or know I’m not going to like a key feature), I’ll pass and check out another app.
8) This particular app has more than I am wanting. I do not want this app to do anymore than the basics. So I am going to look for another app.
9) Once you find the app you want, just click on the install button. And depending on your phone, once the install is complete, an icon of the app will be located on your home screen (or main screen).
There you go, that is how you decipher what apps to install from the play store. Next I will cover what to do when you are ready to uninstall an app. But for now, that will be all for this segment of X Simply Basics.
