Google Maps has become the second app on the Play Store to hit five billion downloads, after YouTube became the first back in December 2018.
Technically, its the third, because Google Play Services has also been downloaded five billion times, but we figure that doesn’t really count, as it’s a core part of virtually every Android device. We’d rather look at apps users have actively decided to install. We note, though, that early on, Maps was baked into most Android devices, whereas now it isn’t necessarily and can be found as an optional install.
Regardless of how this number came to be, five billion is a big number, and it’s unsurprising that it’s one of Google’s most useful tools that has reached this milestone.
What’s perhaps a little surprising is that it’s not Google’s own Search app which has reached this level. That said, I’ve never found Google Search on Android to be as useful as simply opening Chrome (or your browser of choice) and simply banging that search term into the address bar. It’s quicker, and when you find a result, you don’t then have to wait for your browser to open. You’re already there.
