All Pixel system apps on Play Store now show ’1-5′ installs

When official sales numbers are unavailable, people have been judging some device’s sales using the Play Store install count on some system apps. It’s an easy, though likely not very accurate, way to judge how many devices have been sold since those apps often auto update for most people.

Google seems to be unhappy with this method of judging sales, so it has changed the install count on all Pixel device system apps to “1-5″ on desktop and “1+” on mobile. Considering that every other app shows its install count, this method has people frustrated with Google abusing its control over the install count on its own app store. It’s also technically false information, which is not a great look for Google.

Removing that section entirely could be a better method to hide potential sale counts, but then it should be offered to all developers. Nonetheless, it’s a bit of a shady move by Google.

source: androidandme