Joining the likes of other Google apps like Play Movies, Play Books, and Play Music, and Facebook's Messenger app, Google Play Newsstand became the latest Google app to reach the 500 million download mark, reaching it some time this month. This number obviously reflects only downloads/installs, not active users, but it's still an impressive figure.

Of course this count is including downloads from the days when Newsstand was still Google Play Magazines, before it superseded both Magazines and Currents as Google's de facto news-and-magazine reader.

The app has come a long long way since then, moving from a dark, sparse interface with reliability issues to a fully realized reader and subscription manager with gorgeous design, smooth functionality, and an actually pleasant user experience. Here's to the next 500M.

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.magazines[/EMBED_APP]