The electronic-mail app, Gmail has recorded a total of 10 billion downloads from the Google Play Store, making it the fourth application on the Play Store to achieve the landmark.
Gmail comes behind Google Play Services, YouTube and Google Map, all owned by Google’s home company, Alphabet Inc. It is no surprise the four apps are the most downloaded as they come preinstalled in a new android device sold to users. They are also an undeletable requirement for almost all Android phones that use Google Services.
The Google Play Store, as of January 2022, shows that Google Chrome and Google Search have also crossed the 10 billion downloads mark. Another sister app, Google Photos trails a little behind, having about 5 billion downloads.
Gmail which was launched by Google on April 1, 2004, now holds 53 percent of the U.S. email market with its 10 billion downloads. The figure according to reports is expected to steadily increase as the app which currently is available in 72 languages has a wider global reach than Apple’s iPhone.
However, the Gmail app is currently only second to the Apple iPhone email app which is the country’s most popular mail client. In April last year, Gmail reportedly held a 27.2% market share of all email clients in the U.S., far behind the iPhone email’s 38.9%. Apple’s leadership is owed to the growing popularity of every subsequent edition of the iPhone series released every one or two years.
However, Google has the potential to catch up with the top global phone, laptop and mobile accessories maker due to its improving numbers. Gmail downloads, Digitaltrends say, are expected to increase this year as users today tend to utilize more than one smartphone at a time, choosing one Android and another, an iPhone.
