WhatsApp reaches 5 billion installs on Google Play Store

Reaching a 5-billion installs on Google Play Store is quite an achievement, especially for apps that do not come pre-installed through Google or OEM partnerships. WhatsApp has become the world’s second non-Google app to reach 5 billion installs on Android. Previously, the Facebook app reached a similar milestone, courtesy of partnerships with Samsung and other OEMs. WhatsApp, a popular Facebook-owned instant messaging app, has joined ‘the three-comma club’ (a reference from HBO’s highly-popular TV show called Silicon Valley).

The numbers, however, do not only represent Google Play downloads but also pre-installed copies from partnerships with OEMs. In the past, WhatsApp came to terms with certain OEMs over device-specific deals such as Samsung Galaxy S6. Until recently, the WhatsApp messenger used to come pre-installed with Huawei smartphones. According to Statista.com report, WhatsApp has over half a billion active users using WhatsApp Status feature on a daily basis.

WhatsApp Status is one of the highly-popular features which is similar to Stories feature of other social apps such as Snapchat and Instagram. WhatsApp Status feature allows users to share ephemeral content like photos, videos and text that automatically disappear after 24 hours.

READ | WhatsApp was the most-downloaded non-gaming app last month

WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion monthly active users around the world. As of 2019, WhatsApp was estimated to have 68 million users in the United States. WhatsApp is most popular in markets like India and Brazil. As of July 2019, WhatsApp has more than 400 million users in India. Meanwhile, WhatsApp continues to dominate the app store in terms of the number of downloads. Last month, WhatsApp was the most-downloaded app worldwide across the App Store and Google Play.

According to the app store research company Sensor Tower, WhatsApp generated close to 112 million downloads last month, representing a 30 percent year-over-year increase from the same period last year. The countries with the highest number of WhatsApp installs were, of course, India at 32 percent, followed by Brazil at 9 percent. Following WhatsApp, TikTok amassed close to 83 million installs representing a 14 percent year-over-year increase from the same period last year.

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