Source app downloads vs the Google Play board

An app downloads vs Google Play comparison on Trends MCP is two different tools. Source app downloads on get_growth or get_time_series returns a 0-100 series for one Android bundle ID, with an install-estimate volume field when the pipeline has it. Type Google Play on get_top_trends returns ranked store display names and takes no keyword. From the September 13, 2026 board (as_of 2026-09-13T12:01:38 UTC), rank 1 was WhatsApp Messenger. The matching bundle com.whatsapp last printed a non-zero close of index 3.2 and volume 12,322,868 on 2026-09-11, then 0.0 on 2026-09-13, so get_growth 30D printed -100.0%. Display names ChatGPT and WhatsApp Messenger returned HTTP 404 no_data. Mixing the two strings is a 400.

Rank 1 last closed 12,322,868 on 11 Sep; get_growth printed 0.0

The September 13, 2026 board is the split that still matters next month: live rank is a title list stamped that morning, while source app downloads often closes on a trailing zero. Omitting limit returned limit 25, count 25, offset 0, as_of_ts 2026-09-13T12:01:38.463213+00:00. Rank 1 was WhatsApp Messenger. Rank 3 was YouTube. Rank 11 was ChatGPT. Rank 17 was Google Play services.

Live rank is not a sort of the install estimate. YouTube sat at rank 3 with a last non-zero volume of 29,572,652. WhatsApp sat at rank 1 with 12,322,868. Google Play services sat at rank 17 with 34,256,788 on 2026-09-12, more than either consumer title. ChatGPT sat at rank 11 with the highest index in this cut, 13.8. Quote the board stamp and the last non-zero row. Do not treat 0.0 as a vanished app.

Instagram was the only consumer title in this cut whose get_growth recent_date was a non-zero close: index 1.3 and volume 3,929,169 on 2026-09-14, one day after the board stamp. 30D matched 1M exactly: 1.3 versus 1.4, growth -7.14%, volume 3,929,169 from 4,071,841, volume_growth -3.5%, 165 points. 7D matched 1W exactly and printed growth 999999.0 because the 2026-09-06 baseline was 0.0. Quote 1.3. Do not put 999999.0 in a forecast.

sort=rank_change with window=7d and limit 10 used the same as_of_ts, plus baseline_ts 2026-09-06T02:01:39.865148+00:00, then returned count 1. The only climber was YouTube Music at rank 150, prev_rank 151, rank_change 1. window=1d against baseline_ts 2026-09-12T02:01:33.908651+00:00 returned the same single row. This board barely moved versus either baseline. offset 25 with limit 5 returned count 5: Spotify: Music and Podcasts at 26, 8 Ball Pool at 27, Free Fire MAX at 28, Google at 29, Lazada 8.8 Sale at 30. The chart continued past row 25 on this pull.

How to call source app downloads without pasting a display name as a type

Two strings, two tools. REST uses mode get_growth or get_top_trends. MCP uses the matching tool names. The live board page is the free Google Play trends API. Bundle-ID windows live on the Android app downloads API. Window defaults live on get-growth. Pagination and limit are documented with get-top-trends.

{"mode": "get_top_trends", "type": "Google Play"}
{"mode": "get_growth", "source": "app downloads", "keyword": "com.whatsapp", "percent_growth": ["7D", "30D", "12M"]}
{"mode": "get_time_series", "source": "app downloads", "keyword": "com.whatsapp"}
{"mode": "get_growth", "source": "app downloads, google search", "keyword": "com.whatsapp", "percent_growth": ["30D"]}

The MCP equivalents are get_top_trends(type="Google Play"), get_growth(keyword="com.whatsapp", source="app downloads", percent_growth=["7D", "30D", "12M"]), and get_time_series(keyword="com.whatsapp", source="app downloads"). REST top_trends with type Google Play and limit 3 on September 14, 2026 returned the same snapshot timestamp as the omitted-limit MCP pull, with count 3: WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook, YouTube.

get_time_series for com.whatsapp returned 169 rows from 2025-09-16 (index 1.6, volume 6,351,150) to 2026-09-13 (index 0.0, volume 0). Grain is roughly every other day over about one year, not a five-year weekly strip. Peak index printed 100.0 on 2026-03-27 with volume 389,644,548. volume_cumulative sat at 2,147,483,647 on every WhatsApp row, the signed 32-bit ceiling. YouTube peaked at 100.0 on 2026-03-26 with volume 1,045,570,458 across 172 points. ChatGPT peaked at 100.0 on 2026-03-27 with volume 72,582,351, and its cumulative ended at 1,540,405,403 without hitting that ceiling.

The comma-separated WhatsApp call returned sources_requested ["app downloads", "google search"], sources_successful 2, and trend_analysis.uptrend_ratio 0/2. App downloads 30D was -100.0% with 169 points and recent_date 2026-09-13. Google Search 30D was -21.88% (64.0 to 50.0) on recent_date 2026-09-12 with 261 weekly points and no volume field in that row. volume_weighted_growth printed null, weight_coverage 0/2 sources, because the downloads close was 0.0. Same preset, different grain, different close dates. Google Search treated com.whatsapp as a typed query. That 50.0 is not an install count.

get_time_series on app downloads, google search returned invalid_source with 16 names and no all. Multi-source strings belong on get_growth only.

Mixing app downloads and Google Play is a 400

get_top_trends with type app downloads returned HTTP 400, error invalid_request, message Unknown type 'app downloads', plus 24 valid feed labels that include Google Play. get_growth with source Google Play and keyword com.whatsapp returned HTTP 400, error invalid_source, message 'google play' is not a valid source., plus 16 valid sources: google search, google images, google news, google shopping, youtube, wikipedia, tiktok, reddit, amazon, news sentiment, news volume, app downloads, app rankings, steam, npm, python, all. The handler lowercased the rejected source. It did not map it to app downloads.

The inverse fold exists on the feed name. type google play on get_top_trends returned HTTP 200 and echoed type Google Play, with the same 25 titles as the canonical label and as_of_ts 2026-09-13T12:01:38.463213+00:00. llms.txt still describes feed labels as case-sensitive. The live handler accepted this lowercase Play string on September 14, 2026. Prefer the canonical Google Play spelling in stored configs.

REST omitting type is a different 400. POST https://api.trendsmcp.ai/api with mode get_top_trends and limit 5, no type, returned HTTP 200 with envelope statusCode 400, error invalid_request, message The 'type' parameter is required, then the same 24-name list. llms.txt still names that miss missing_parameter. Read statusCode inside the JSON, not only the HTTP line.

country GB with limit 5 on Google Play returned HTTP 400, error invalid_request, message that country is only supported for Google Trends, Google Trends by Category, TikTok Trending Hashtags, TikTok Trending Hashtags by Category, X (Twitter) Trending, and YouTube Trending. Google Play is not on that list. Omit country on this feed. Rank 7 Flipkart Online Shopping App and rank 30 Lazada 8.8 Sale still appeared on the default board. This chart is not a U.S.-only consumer list.

get_growth can 404 while the series still returns

The first get_growth call on com.openai.chatgpt returned HTTP 404 no_data. get_time_series on the same bundle then returned the full strip through 2026-09-13. A retry of get_growth with 30D and 12M returned HTTP 200: recent_date 2026-09-13, recent_value 0.0, 30D flat against another 0.0 on 2026-08-14, 12M -100.0% from 9.5 / 6,879,284 on 2025-09-16, 166 points. Quote the 404. Retry. Still skip the trailing zero. ChatGPT at live rank 11 is not a missing package.

com.zhiliaoapp.musically repeated the pattern. The first 30D get_growth call returned HTTP 404 no_data. get_time_series returned 173 points through 2026-09-13. A retry printed 0.0 versus 1.0 / 1,868,802 on 2026-08-13, growth -100.0%. TikTok sat at board rank 8. The series existed. The first growth call missed.

Omit percent_growth on com.whatsapp after a four-window success returned HTTP 404 no_data. The earlier call had already printed 169 points and a 12M row of 0.0 versus 1.6 / 6,351,150 on 2025-09-16. The default window is 12M. That default did not run on the omit call in this session. Store the four-window row. Do not assume omit always succeeds because an earlier call on the same bundle did.

Google Play services shows why a 7D index percent can lie even when volume is real. 7D printed index 0.2 versus 0.0 and growth 999999.0, while volume moved from 140,111 on 2026-09-04 to 34,256,788 on 2026-09-12, volume_growth 24,349.75%. 30D volume_growth was +324.44% from 8,071,114. 12M volume_growth was +118.73% from 15,661,981 on 170 points. The 2026-04-13 peak printed index 100.0 with volume 2,147,483,647, the same signed 32-bit ceiling as volume_cumulative. Quote 34,256,788 next to rank 17. Do not quote 999999.0 as demand.

get_top_trends MCP pricing is 1 credit per 10 requested rows, max 10 credits per call. REST counts 1 request per call. Free boards still cap at the top 10. The 25-row pulls on this page are the paid default, which is also what the handler returns when limit is omitted on a paid key. The keyword-window follow-up is the Android app downloads API page. This split stays inside one store: a bundle-ID install series versus live chart rank.