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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).
Google Pay growth continues to explode, with dozens upon dozens of new banks signing on
No, YOU'RE a bank
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Google Pay has come a long way over the years, most recently with a complete redesign now under its belt. Not too long ago we crossed an eagerly anticipated milestone for the mobile payment app, with the service finally surpassing more than 3,000 banks in the US, and now it's adding even more.
Google Sheets hits 1 billion installs on the Play Store, just in time for you to balance your budget
A new milestone for the ever-popular spreadsheet tool
Love them or hate them, spreadsheets are a necessary part of modern life. From keeping track of monthly expenses to making to-do lists, apps like Google Sheets make it easy to organize all of your data into a simple document. More than two years after hitting 500 million installs on the Play Store, Sheets is now the newest app to become a member of the 1 billion club.
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.
This Google app is saying 'calculator' to the 500M club as it earns 1B-installs badge
Get it? Calc-you-later?
I'll be the first to admit math isn't my strong suit, which is why having a calculator always available on my phone is such a lifesaver. Google's calculator app is preinstalled on plenty of Android devices, so it's no surprise that it's finally surpassed one billion installs on the Play Store. If my math is correct, that's double the number of installs since 2019.
YouTube installs on Android TV have doubled in 12 months, hinting at some substantial platform growth
Google is taking over the living room, one TV at a time
Android TV may have started as a small side project for Google, dwarfed in size by its own Chromecast devices, but it's quickly becoming a star in its own right. YouTube — a preinstalled app on every Android TV device — recently hit 100 million installs for its Android TV variant, giving us a good idea of the platform's growth.
Do you remember when YouTube Music was first introduced? Without the help of a Google search, I'd guess 2019 or maybe 2018... and I'd be off by a few years. The service dates back to 2015, but it didn't catch on in popularity until Google introduced the paid subscription plan, expanded its availability to dozens and dozens of countries, and eventually sacrificed Google Play Music at its altar. The app's download numbers have subsequently soared on the Play Store and have now reached the coveted 1 billion milestone.
It's about time: Google's Clock app hits 1 billion downloads
Android's default alarm app is also its most popular
For most of us, the days of dedicated alarm clocks are long gone. All you need is your smartphone placed on a bedside table, and you're ready to be woken up the following day. From timers to stopwatches, the clock app on your phone is an essential tool. You'll find no shortage of alarms and timers to choose from on Android, but Google's Clock app makes time management easy, and it's included by default on plenty of devices. The app has finally ticked past the one billion installs mark on the Play Store, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
Sony's Playstation app hits 100 million installs five months after the launch of the PS5
Too bad you still can't buy Sony's latest console
Any time an application hits 100 million installs on the Play Store, it's worth taking note. From podcast players to streaming services, it's a sign that an app has truly cemented its legacy on Android. It's not often that three apps reach this milestone all at once, but that's exactly what has happened today. PlayStation, myAT&T, and Moto Photo Editor have all earned their respective places in the Play Store hall of fame.
Google Podcasts hits 100 million installs on Android, proving people might care about RSS after all
Its install base doubled in just five months
When it comes to listening to podcasts in 2021, the options are limitless. From dedicated software like Pocket Casts or Podcast Addict to Spotify's endless pursuit to make you listen to its exclusives (whether by accident or by force), you probably have three different methods for listening to podcasts on your phone right now. Placed alongside every other app fighting for your attention is Google Podcasts, the free and feature-limited experience built to sync your library between Android, smart speakers, and any web-connected device. Less than five months after hitting 50 million installs, the app has hit a new milestone: 100 million installs since its launch in 2018.
Google Podcasts reaches 50 million downloads on Android, so someone is clearly using it
Podcasts only became a viable product over the last year
Google Podcasts may not be superior to many third-party podcast players out there, but it's free and readily available on any device and lets you pick up your listening session on a smart home speaker via voice. That alone might be worth a lot to many people, and it seems that Google Podcasts resonates with at least 50 million users — that's the milestone the app just reached on the Play Store.
Reddit gets its app to 50 million Play Store downloads, mostly by making the mobile web experience miserable
The third-party Reddit clients are better, by the way
Anyone who's tried to browse Reddit on their phone's web browser will be familiar with the constant popups prompting users to download the mobile app instead. Well, it looks like making their mobile site virtually unusable has paid off for the site, as its official Android app has just passed 50 million downloads on the Play Store.
Google Assistant now works with over 50,000 smart home devices
And only 45,000 of them are smart bulbs
Back in 2018, Google touted that the Assistant worked on over 10,000 smart home gadgets from 1,000 different brands — that's quite a lot of speakers, smart bulbs, cameras, and other hardware that the Assistant can either control or is built into. But in the two intervening years, that number has further exploded, and today Google claims that the Assistant now works with over 50,000 devices from over 5,500 brands. That's some serious growth.
Google Assistant's redundant standalone app reaches 100 million installs on Android
The Assistant is baked into the Google app, this is just a shortcut
Some of us are old enough to remember that Google Assistant first showed up in Allo before launching exclusively on the first-gen Pixels in October 2016. You may also recall that after spreading to more devices, Assistant got its very own "app" on the Play Store in October 2017. Similarly to the Google Podcasts app, it's just a shortcut to the Assistant, the functionality of which remains part of the main Google app. Given the non-essential nature of the app, you'll forgive us for being surprised to see it reach 100 million installs on the Play Store.
No sooner had WhatsApp reached one milestone than it's ready to surpass another. Today, the service has announced that it's serving 2 billion monthly users worldwide, doubling its 2016 reach.
Gather 'round folks, Tez celebration time! Google's mobile payment solution for India, formerly known as Tez and later rebranded to Pay, has reached an important milestone in its software life: 100 million installs on the Play Store. This is usually when developers bring out the big cake and everyone wishes them zero bugs and 100% positive reviews for the months to come.
Knock Knock! Who's there? Duo. Duo who? Du-o know that Google's video calling app has just surpassed 500 million installs on the Play Store? We need to take a few minutes to celebrate this milestone.
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- It turns out that we first spotted these pre-registration reward tiers in a teardown of the Play Store app last year, though this is the first time many of us are seeing the system utilized. In any case, more developers should take advantage of them.
The Play Store now supports reward tiers for apps in the pre-registration phase, allowing developers to entice potential customers to pre-register for more goodies once the app launches. It's not a new concept, but we've never seen it on the Play Store before.
We like celebrating milestones in download and install numbers here on Android Police. It's a silly little habit we got into that makes us reflect on the history of a certain app and its number of users, and see if we can glean any insider information from it. Just last week, Google Calculator reached 100M installs and a few days ago, more niche and recent apps Google Classroom and YouTube for Android TV got to 10M. Larger numbers are a little tougher to achieve unless you're part of an elite and this is the case with Google Calendar today: it has reached 500M installs. Somebody set a reminder to buy confetti!
It's a good milestone day for Android's side-projects and apps. Earlier we reported that the Android Wear app had reached 10 million downloads on the Play Store and now we're seeing the same number for the Android Auto app.