The recent Play Store update to 4.9.13 brought with it a few Material Design elements especially visible in the app and content pages. We're now starting to see a new addition to the app page: a more prominent download number badge shown right next to the rating, category, and the +1 recommendations from your friends. Previously, the download number was written in text below the Install button, or hidden deep inside the app's description, under Read More. The badge is definitely a more visual way to spot it.
Left: old - Right: new
The badge won't show for apps with 0 downloads (like the first screenshot below), but will appear when there's more than 1 download. It changes in color too, going through these shades:
- 1 to 5000 downloads: grey
- 10,000 to 50,000: blue
- 100,000 to 500,000: green
- 1 million and above: orange
This is a welcome change, especially when you're quickly checking an app and want to know whether it's worth downloading or not. If it has a small number of downloads, you should look carefully at its description and permissions to assess whether or not it's safe (and worth it) to try.
You should see these badges on the same Play Store version, 4.9.13, which means that this is a server-side change that requires no updates on your part.
Thanks +Vítek Petrů!