Play Console is where you can review how many people have downloaded your app, how many unique users you have, how those users are using your app, and the technical health of the Android build. To access these reports, log in to Google Play Console, select your app, and use the left-hand menu to navigate to each section described below.

Dashboard

The Dashboard (left menu > Dashboard) is the best place to start. It gives you an at-a-glance view of your app's recent performance — installs, uninstalls, ratings, crashes, and revenue — with trend indicators that compare the current period to the previous one. From the "Monitor trends" section you can pin the specific KPIs you care about (for example, New users, Daily Active Users, or Install events) so they appear front and center every time you log in.

Statistics (Downloads & Unique Users)

The Statistics page (left menu > Statistics) is where you'll find the headline numbers most merchants are looking for — how many people have downloaded the app and how many unique users are active. You can pick any metric, change the date range, and break the data down by country, Android version, device, language, carrier, form factor, or app version. Reports can be saved as Quick Reports for re-use and exported as a CSV.

Metrics for downloads

Google Play tracks downloads at both the user level and the device level. The most common ones to look at are:

User acquisitions: The number of users who installed your app and did not have it installed on any other device at the time. This is the closest metric to "new downloads by unique person."
New users: Users who installed your app for the first time ever.
Returning users: Users who installed your app after having previously uninstalled it from all of their devices.
Install events: The total number of times your app was installed, including reinstalls on devices that had it before. This is the closest metric to "total downloads."
First opens: The number of devices on which your app was opened for the first time after being installed (within 180 days of install). Useful for measuring how many downloads actually converted into a real first session.

Metrics for unique users

Installed Audience: The number of users who have your app installed on at least one device and have used that device (not necessarily your app) in the past 30 days. This is your current active install base at the user level.
Daily Active Users (DAU): The number of unique users who opened your app on a given day.
Monthly Active Users (MAU): The number of unique users who opened your app at least once in a rolling 28-day period.
Monthly returning users: Users who opened your app on a given day and on at least one other day in the same 28-day period. A good signal of stickiness.
7-day retention: The number of devices on which your app was opened on the seventh day after it was first opened.

Device-level metrics

If you want to track installs at the device level rather than the user level (a single user can have multiple devices), use:

Install base: The number of active devices on which your app is currently installed (active = turned on at least once in the last 30 days).
Device acquisition: The number of devices that users have installed your app on, including initial activation of devices with the app pre-installed.

Compare to peers

The Statistics page has a second tab called Compare to peers. This shows your growth rates normalized for scale next to peer groups of similar apps, so you can quickly tell whether your downloads, retention, or active users are trending above or below comparable apps in the ecosystem.

Reach and devices

The Reach and devices page (Release > Reach and devices > Overview) shows how your install base and quality metrics are distributed across different device attributes (Android version, RAM, screen size, country/region, and more). The scorecard at the top summarizes key metrics, and the body of the page highlights the top three attribute values for your app (for example, your top three Android versions by install base). You can apply country/region filters, select a peer group for benchmarking, and click Explore on any attribute to open a detailed view with sortable data tables and CSV export. Reference: View and understand your app's quality and reach.

Store analysis

The Store analysis page (Grow > Store performance > Store analysis) explains where your installs are actually coming from. For example, organic Play Store searches, Google Ads, third-party referrers, or direct links. The related Store listing conversion analysis page breaks down the conversion rate from store-listing visitors to installs, which is useful when you're testing different store-listing assets.

Android vitals (App quality)

Android vitals (Quality > Android vitals > Overview) is Google Play's report on the technical health of your app - crash rate, ANR (Application Not Responding) rate, slow sessions, excessive wake locks, and other user-impacting issues. Vitals matters for two reasons: it directly affects the user experience, and Google Play uses it as a signal for how prominently your app gets surfaced in the store. If your crash or ANR rates cross Google's "bad behavior thresholds," your app's discoverability can be reduced. You can set up alerts in vitals to be notified when a new issue starts impacting users. Reference: Android vitals.

Tips for getting the most out of these reports

Pin your KPIs. Use the "Monitor trends" section of the Dashboard to pin the 3–5 metrics you check most often (for example: New users, Install events, DAU, Install base, Average rating).

Use the "Compare" toggle. On the Statistics page, the Compare switch lets you put two date ranges side by side, useful for measuring the impact of a marketing push or app release.

Watch user-level vs. device-level metrics. A single user can have multiple devices, so device counts will almost always be higher than user counts. Pick the level that matches the question you're trying to answer.

Account for opt-out adjustments. Some metrics are based on data from users who have opted in to share usage data. Google Play adjusts these numbers to estimate your full user base, so they may not match other analytics tools exactly.

Time zones to keep in mind. Install, ratings, crash, and ANR data are reported in Pacific Time (PT). Revenue data is reported in UTC.

Troubleshooting

The numbers in Play Console don't match my other analytics tool.

This is normal. Play Console adjusts for users who opted out of sharing usage data, and other tools (Firebase, GA4, third-party SDKs) define "user," "install," and "session" differently. Use Play Console as the source of truth for store-level metrics like Install events and Install base, and use your in-app analytics for in-app behavior.

I don't have access to Play Console.

Play Console access is managed by your developer account admin. Ask the person who owns your Google Play developer account to invite you to the account with the appropriate permissions (for view-only access to analytics, the "View app information and download bulk reports" permission is usually sufficient).