Google Play does not show the exact number of application downloads, but instead includes them in different bands. The largest band is the one with more than 5 billion downloads and has just admitted a new member in its ranks: WhatsApp.
Only 12 applications are in this range of downloads, the vast majority of them from Google. They came preinstalled on the vast majority of Android devices. Until now there was only one exception: Facebook, and now WhatsApp joins the cast.
If in 2016 there were only 16 apps with more than one billion downloads, in 2020 the same thing happens but with the following strip: the five billion.
WhatsApp exceeds 5 billion downloads on Android
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The first application to exceed five billion downloads was the Google Play Services, although later they soon joined other Google applications that have been pre-installed on Android phones almost since its inception: Google Maps and YouTube. It is also necessary to emphasize that these two apps took two more years to reach the figure.
If we review applications with more than 5 billion downloads, the list is monopolized by Google applications that are preinstalled on the mobile, including old ones known as Android Accessibility Suite, formerly known as TalkBack.
- Google Play services
- Youtube
- Chrome
- Google Text-to-speech
- Google Maps
- Gmail
- Google Play Music
- Android Accessibility Suite
- Google Drive
Facebook was the only exception so far, although it was hardly a deserved position as it was also pre-installed for years in a large number of devices. Now, WhatsApp joins the list and does so on its own merits. It also comes preinstalled in some devices, although not as massively and aggressively as Facebook. Now we just need to open the bets: what app will be next? What app do you think will be the next to achieve 5 billion downloads in Google Play? Let us know in the comments.
