This. I've learned to never even look for anything in Google's store, unless someone has recommended a specific app to me.

If I can't find something ni F-Droid, then I search Google for e.g. "insect id app android site:reddit.com" and read all the comments, and then and only then do I risk installing something.

Based on my experience, I would estimate that more than 99% of apps in the official app store are malware of some kind.