Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

Play Store search now lets you filter apps with 4-star ratings or more

Google has taken a step towards improving the app search experience with the addition of a ratings-based filter.
By
October 20, 2014
play store ratings filter (2)

The app section of Google’s Play Store can be like the Wild West at times, what with the barely disguised adware, clone infestation, and plain-old poor quality apps. The low barrier of entry for apps in the Play Store has made possible a rich and varied ecosystem, but we wished Google did a better job at improving app discovery, especially since Google is so good at search in general.

Now Google has taken a step towards improving the app search experience with the addition of a ratings-based filter. You can now limit search results to apps that have a 4-star rating or higher, which, in theory, should weed out most bad or exploitive apps.

play store ratings filter (1)

It probably won’t remove all poor quality apps, for a couple of reasons – this may not catch some new apps with just a handful of reviews, and, second, apps with tons of fake reviews will still go through.

Nevertheless, this small new feature will weed out most blatantly bad apps and is a good addition to an area where Google still has lots of room to improve.

For now, the ratings-based filter is only available in the web version of the Play Store, but Google will probably waste no time bringing it to the Android app as well.