tech2 News Staff

It's not the greatest looking app on the Google Play Store, and many may even be using a replacement app instead of the stock version, but Gmail is the most popular app on Android. The official Gmail app has become the first Play Store app to reach the 1 billion downloads mark.

As per Android Police, the significant rise of Android smartphones has played a crucial role in the app reaching the milestone. Facebook, YouTube and even Google Search have more active users than Gmail, but the app, which is pre-installed on most Android phones, has won out.

Google counts only unique accounts that downloaded the Gmail app. But this doesn’t mean that the app has 1 billion regular users. Some may choose to use the stock email app instead of Gmail. The total has also taken into consideration duplicate and abandoned accounts.

Gmail is not the first app to reach a billion downloads. Google Play Services crossed 1 billion before Gmail, but it's not an app per se and cannot be 'donwloaded'. Play Services comes pre-installed on every Android smartphone, which has Google-approved software. Gmail, on the other hand, can be uninstalled by users, if it's not a system app. Some manufacturers or Android custom ROMs don't even include Gmail in their default builds, which is why Gmail is officially the first app to cross the mark.