Key Takeaways

  • Play Store now shows trending searches for popular apps, providing insight into what other users are searching for.
  • Trending searches appear to have no personalization, though they might be connected to your location.
  • The feature, as it currently stands, can not be disabled.



Google already offers a clear look at trending searches on its Search engine, and it looks like similar functionality is now going live on the Play Store.

First spotted in testing all the way back in August by SwipeInsight, the new feature essentially shows topics that other users on the Play Store are actively searching for — great for catching onto viral apps before they truly blow up. At the same time, acting as a double-edged sword, for those who are not looking to experiment and only looking for certain apps, the new feature is nothing but visual clutter.

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Trending searches are likely part of a phased roll out, considering that I have them available on one Google account and not on the other. While Google is yet to detail the new feature, we’ve been able to play around with it to gain some insights. For starters, there’s no personalization here. You simply see what a large majority of users are searching for.


The Trending searches panel appears within the new Play Store search bar. For reference, previously, the search bar was conveniently located at the top of the Play Store’s home screen. Now, to perform a new search, users need to (first step) tap the search button in the bottom bar that redirects them to a new page, and then (second step) tap the search bar up top again. The Trending searches panel appears after the first tap on the bottom bar search button.


There’s no way to disable the new feature

Screenshots of Google Play Store's new Trending Searches.

Elsewhere, as seen in the screenshots above, Trending searches highlight the name of the apps that other users are actively searching for, the app’s icon, the number of searches (presumably in the past 24 hours), and a small excerpt about the app. As it stands now, the section only highlights the top three most trending searches. However, closing and re-opening the Play Store does highlight a different set of apps.


Users that don’t want to go through the finger gymnastics of skipping over Trending searches every time they’re looking for a specific app will have to wait a little bit longer. As of right now, there seems to be no way to disable the new feature.

Thanks: Moshe