How to export a list as Text of all Play Store Apps that I have ever installed

Question

I need to generate a text export of the list under the MyApps-> Library Tab of the Play Store App for Android. I need a list of every App that I have ever installed from the Play Store, and not just a list of the subset of those which are currently installed. Thanks, Jim

Answer 1

Use Google Takeout to export out of Google services a list of all activity involving the Google Play Store for a Google account.

No root or even device is required as you are exporting out of Google's collected cloud data, you just need account credentials.

For reference I just did it for my account and was able to obtain a zip file containing the following JSON files:

Devices.json
Installs.json
Library.json
Order History.json
Play Settings.json
Purchase History.json
Redemption History.json
Reviews.json

If you check Installs.json you should be able to extract out the name of the app from "title" as well as when it was first installed/last updated.

A few caveats that I see:

1. Apps on pre-Google Play devices appear to show up with package app name (i.e. com.publisher.awesomeapp). The earliest in my history is 2011. So there appears to be Android Market installs are held in this dataset.
2. Devices.json only seems to hold recently accessed devices. I'm pretty sure I had older devices with Google Play but they aren't listed. Its possible those old devices (Gingerbread/KitKat) have 'aged' out due to lack of access so that might explain why the older app installs like from 2011 show "deviceDisplayName": "Unknown Device"
3. title could either be plain app name or package name.

As the files are in text in JSON format, it shouldn't be too difficult extract out what you need.

From @JimCramer's comments, one can use https://json-csv.com/ to get a csv file from a json file.

1. Download Google Takeout zip file.
2. Unpack zip file
3. Upload Library.json file to that service
4. Review "Choose Output Options", if required
5. Click "Convert JSON to CSV"
6. For the Library.json file there will be three columns:

   'DocumentType', 'Title', 'Acquisition Time'

7. Download CSV result file
8. Import into spreadsheet, sort by 'DocumentType' to get Android Apps and enjoy

From what I recall, Excel itself can import json files.

If you don't want a third-party site to have access to your data. A search in your favorite search engine naming your spreadsheet tool with the topic of 'JSON conversion' will show either how to do it or what plugins/scripts are required for the effect.