For the first time, the number of apps in the Apple App Store declined this year

The App Store's total number of apps declined for the first time this year as Apple stepped up its effort to remove old apps that did not comply with newer iPhones and apps that did not meet the company's recent review guidelines. Additionally, apps that do not support 64-bit architecture that is now ubiquitous across iPhones, were also removed.

This brought the total number of apps on the App Store to 2.1 million, down from 2.2 million in 2016.

In comparison, the Google Play Store with Android apps now has a catalog of some 3.5 million applications.

Still, it might be a good thing that we are no longer involved in an app numbers race. The whole idea behind Apple's app purge is to leave only good quality apps. Apple also removed virus-scanning apps from the App Store, as well as apps that were clones of others, and other low quality apps.