Google is celebrating yet another Android app that eclipsed 1 billion installs.
Android Police reports that, in recent days, the Messages app on the Play Store registered more than 1 billion installs less than a year after generating half as many.
It’s clear why this milestone approached faster than anticipated: Rich Communication Services (RCS). Google rolled out Chat, its RCS standard, in force over the last year. Chat arrived in the United States at the end of 2019, and Google continues pushing it into additional countries worldwide. Features enabled through RCS and Chat include a real-time typing indicator, large file transfers, and reliable group messaging. Android devices get pretty close to iMessage with the Messages app and this technology.
The Messages app does a lot more than just sending and receiving texts. Users can also trade stickers, share their location, and let Google Assistant insert contextual recommendations. It’s still not a total challenger to iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, but Google’s Messages app finally does a lot of what Android users have always wanted.
Since it’s not required as a pre-installed app with Google Mobile Services, the Messages app’s milestone impresses even more than Gmail, Google Maps, and other in-house solutions to have reached the same figure. Hardware manufacturers don’t need to include it on third-party Android devices. In fact, Google and Android One partners such as Nokia are often the only companies that offer the Messages app right out of the box. Smartphones made by other companies can still use the app, but they’re required to open the Play Store, find the Messages app, and choose to install it.
The Play Store stops counting at 1 billion installs, and that means we’ll never know where the Messages app’s growth rate takes it next. But, with RCS activating next-generation features, it’s not hard to imagine Android users will continue flocking to it. Google found itself a simple communications app worth keeping around, finally.
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