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Google One has unsurprisingly hit 500 million installs on the Play Store
It probably has Google Photos to thank for this
Only a year after it hit the 100 million mark, Google One has managed to amass a staggering 500 million installs on the Play Store. It now joins the ranks of sister apps like Google Pay and Wallpapers that achieved the milestone earlier this year.
If installs were currency, Google Pay would have 500 million in the bank
Seems like mobile payments are as popular as ever
Mobile payments are the way of the future (or so I've been told), and it seems Google's well aware of that. The company has spent the last year completely renovating its Pay app to be far more advanced than anything that's come before. Spending habits, sending and requesting money from friends, and rewards programs are all part of the relaunched effort, and with its latest installs milestone, it seems to be paying off for Google (no pun intended).
Apps from Amazon and WhatsApp hit 500 million installs on the Play Store
Amazon Shopping and WhatsApp business are the latest to hit the milestone
Amazon is kind of a big deal: while building a gigantic retail sales empire, it managed to compete with Google on multiple fronts (Android devices, cloud services, online advertising). But that retail empire thing is still the company's bread and butter, which is why the official Amazon shopping app is its first to pass 500 million downloads on the Play Store.
Google's dedicated Assistant app hits 500 million installs on the Play Store
It's still just a shortcut, but a very popular one
If you've ever had to send a text while driving or set a timer while cooking, you know how helpful Google Assistant can be. It's as essential a tool as anything else you'll find on your phone, and since it's built right into the standard Google app, you can be confident it's on every Android device. Of course, Google offers a dedicated Assistant shortcut app in the Play Store, and while it's not necessary, it sure is popular. Less than a year after its last milestone, Assistant has hit 500 million installs on the Play Store.
Google Go passes 500 million downloads on the Play Store
It's a good indicator of Android Go's success
Back in November 2019, we reported Google Go passed 100 million downloads on the Play Store. That success was fueled both by the fact that the app is pre-installed on Android Go devices but also thanks to its data-saving approach, which helps millions of users around the world limit their data consumption. The app just passed 500 million installations on the Play Store, which confirms its global success.
Google Lens has been around for a little over three years now, though it only became a standalone app in mid-2018. In that 2.5-year time span, the app has managed to hit 500 million downloads off the Play Store. That's not bad for a niche app that doesn't come pre-installed on anything.
Google's phone dialer application started off as a Pixel-exclusive replacement for the AOSP Phone app, but it has made plenty of appearances on devices from other companies, and Google even started allowing most people to download it from the Play Store. Now the app has passed a new milestone, according to the Play Store: 500 million installations.
Zoom now has just as many installs on Android as Spotify and SwiftKey
The app has now passed 500 million downloads
Zoom was already a popular video-conferencing tool before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Still, as it became one of the top choices for video calls at the start of 2020 (much to Google's chagrin), it quickly turned into a household name. If you needed another indicator of how popular Zoom has become, the Android app just passed 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Google One passes 100 million installs on Play Store
The number is partially boosted by pre-installations
Android devices have to include at least some of Google's own applications if they want access to the Play Store (which is an issue on its own), so it's not too surprising when one of the company's apps reaches a significant number of installs. The management app for Google One is the latest application to reach 100 million installs, placing it in the same range as Google Classroom and YouTube Studio.
Opera Mini is one of the few applications on Android that predate the existence of Android itself. The web browser got its start on Java ME-compatible basic phones, and was later ported to BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Phone, and eventually iOS and Android. Now the app has passed a major milestone on Google's smartphone platform: 500 million installations.
Pinterest has more than 500 million Play Store installs for some reason
It's as popular as Reddit — at least when it comes to app installations
500,000,000 is a huge number, especially when it comes to app installs on the Google Play Store. Google Contacts and YouTube Music achieved the milestone earlier this month, and now another developer is joining the 500 million installs club: Pinterest, the app for visual inspiration.
Google added its Contact and Phones apps to the Play Store in December 2015, so they could receive updates outside of full system upgrades. That allows the Contacts app to be installed on devices that shipped with a different contact picker, helping push it over the 500 million installs mark to join YouTube GO, Android Auto, and Google Files.
Android Auto recently passed 500 million installs on the Play Store, possibly thanks to its inclusion on most phones shipping with Android 10, and now two more Google-made applications have passed significant milestones.
Android Auto hits 500 million installs on the Play Store
Buoyed by Google's new GMS agreement for Android 10, no doubt
Android Auto is on a roll this year. Merely six months ago, the Play Store app listing hit 100 million downloads, and already the app has now crashed through the half-billion barrier. Of course, most phones ship with the app pre-installed these days, easily inflating those numbers. Still, it's a milestone for Google's smart in-car infotainment system.
Google released its Files app in the play store a few years back, but it was branded as a "Go" app for low-end devices. Here's the thing: everyone needs to clear out their storage on occasion. So, Google dropped the "Go," and now the app has hit the 500 million download milestone.
Many of the Play Store install milestones that go by are more a reflection of 'how many phones was this app bundled with' than 'look at how many people downloaded this by choice.' Telegram doesn't ship pre-installed on any Android phones, but despite that, the app just passed 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
I don't think it's a stretch to say SwiftKey is one of the most important Android apps ever released. It's largely responsible for popularizing swipe-typing, which can now be found on pretty much every other software keyboard. Now the app has passed 500 million installations on the Play Store.
Between being preinstalled on many Android devices and generally available for users to download on the Play Store, it's little surprise that Google’s Calculator app is doing pretty well for itself. Last January the app hit the 100 million installs milestone, and now less than two years later it’s already up to 500 million.
If you've ever had to view PDF documents, there's a good chance you're already very familiar with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. After starting off on Windows and Mac platforms back in the 1990s, Acrobat Reader arrived on Android devices in 2010. Even after the arrival of plenty of competing options, Acrobat Reader has managed to remain popular and has now hit a milestone of over 500 million installs on the Play Store.
Facebook's Messenger has grown from being a simple texting solution to an independent messaging and video chatting software. Because of its numerous features, the company separated Messenger into a dedicated app, which ended up being quite heavy. However, Facebook released Messenger Lite in 2016 to offer a less resource-hungry alternative for more limited devices. The lighter app has become so successful that it just passed 500 million downloads on the Play Store.