• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

A Google Play (store) question

deltaforce

Android Enthusiast
Apr 17, 2012
395
39
Hello folks,

That I am new to Android and apps, to find the best apps that fit my needs, I will end up trying loads of them. As I have already started noticing, like iTunes Store, Google Play Store also does not allow you deleting apps from the history, so over the period of time, I will accumulate lot of junk links (that I won't be interested in anymore). I do not want to repeat iTunes Store mistake with Android, so I wonder if following trick will work and if it will cause any issues with my already installed apps.

I make another gmail account and when I want to try a few apps, log into using that account, download the apps, try them out and whichever I settle on, download using my real Gmail ID. By doing this, all junk links remain in my dummy/new Google Play account and all useful app links in my real Gmail accounts.
As asked earlier, will it affect in anyway my earlier installed apps or any other problems that I have not thought of?

Thanks in advance.
 
That sucks a big time. If I have to factory restore phone every week, that will be pretty annoying. First of all, my phone (Sensation XL) has a lot of factory installed crap as it is and I am considering rooting it to get rid of those apps so this route will certainly not be useful.

Thanks for the pointer anyways.
 
Upvote 0
Here’s the answer, or lack thereof:

Permanently removing uninstalled apps

At this time, there is no way to permanently delete or remove apps from the Google Play website (My Orders/My Android Apps) or from the Google Play Store app (My Apps) that you’ve previously downloaded but have since uninstalled.

Uninstalling apps using the Google Play website

Android apps may only be uninstalled from the device itself - there is no way to remotely uninstall items from play.google.com.
 
Upvote 0
Isn't that annoying? I get the fact that somebody could pay for the app and then deletes mistakenly. Afterwards, factory resets the phone and wants that app but now its not listed in the store (thats what Apple says for this policy) but my argument is, make the user agree to the terms of service that if you delete any app from the store its solely your responsibility and not Google's and let them delete it.

I wonder why they wouldn't do this. Is there any other reason behind it, something like Big Brother watching or our digital past will come haunting later on, blah blah blah?
 
Upvote 0
Isn't that annoying? I get the fact that somebody could pay for the app and then deletes mistakenly. Afterwards, factory resets the phone and wants that app but now its not listed in the store (thats what Apple says for this policy) but my argument is, make the user agree to the terms of service that if you delete any app from the store its solely your responsibility and not Google's and let them delete it.

I wonder why they wouldn't do this. Is there any other reason behind it, something like Big Brother watching or our digital past will come haunting later on, blah blah blah?


Whether you delete an app from Android or iOS, the company will always remember you downloaded it anyway, so you'd not really be gaining anything beyond keeping your list clean by deleting that history.

That being said, everyone has their own preferences so I agree you should be able to filter your app history as you see fit. If it's any consolation, until Google decides to let you do that, there aren't many apps which are too embarrassing if others knew you downloaded from Google Play. It's not filled with porn and stuff like competitors claim.
 
Upvote 0
It will work but the market uses your primary Gmail account (the one you input when seeing up your phone) the only easy to log out of this is to do a factory reset then start from scratch again.

Not QUITE true. If you register a second GMAIL account on the device you can access the Play Store using EITHER account. I know, I had 2 GMAIL accounts for a while, both linked to my phone. What you would need to do is to hit the menu button after going into the Play Store and tap Accounts, this will let you choose which account you're browsing the store as. No factory reset needed.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones