Here’s why some Google Play apps show a number 1 on the game’s icon. It can be deceiving but I believe it’s nothing more than a marketing tactic.
I almost missed this myself but recently visited the store on my desktop to search for a social casino app. The search I used generated a set of results and the first app in the list had a #1 showing inside a red circle.
Since the app was actually in the first position in those results I simply assumed it was there to let me know that the app ranked highest for that search phrase.
But as I scrolled further through the list of search results I noticed others also had this same feature and they were not at the top of the list.
Suddenly, the existence of this extra feature on an app’s icon no longer made sense.
Then it hit me – these numbers were of different sizes and not positioned the same each time.
The one on the top row is larger than the one showing directly below it.
Even the two showing on the second row don’t look EXACTLY the same size.
When I look on my Samsung phone they look so similar you might not even catch the difference but on a larger, desktop view it really stands out.
I don’t believe they were put there by Google at all. I believe they were added by the game creators themselves as a way to make their app stand out in the list of results.
It’s a (sneaky) way of trying to get more downloads.
Some people have written that these indicate you have downloaded that app before. Maybe that was the case in the past but it doesn’t look to be the case now.
I tested this by searching for apps I know I’ve downloaded before and they do not show this #1 badge.
Even an app I know I’ve never installed before in my life on any device shows this same red circle with a white number 1.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that game icons that show this are more popular or better rated than other apps.