Google Classroom is the most popular education app on Android and iOS amid coronavirus

Ben Schoon | Mar 28 2020 - 5:57 pm PT

With schools out in many locations around the United States, teachers and parents alike are looking for alternative ways to keep students occupied. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has boosted Google Classroom to 50 million downloads on Android and to the #1 education app on both Android and iOS.

Google Classroom has been around for quite some time at this point, but the free service hasn’t been especially popular. That’s quickly changing, though, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. According to AppBrain (via Android Police), a service that tracks app popularity over time, noted that the Classroom app wasn’t even in the top 100 education apps early on in March.

As of March 10th, Google Classroom saw a huge spike to the top 5 of the Play Store’s education catalog in the United States. In Mexico, Canada, Finland, Italy, Indonesia, and Poland, the app has also been boosted with more popularity.

For the Google Classroom app, that’s left the app with 50 million downloads on the Play Store overall, a milestone for any application. The app is also the #1 education app on Android as far as free apps go.

Apple doesn’t have a count for the Classroom app on iOS, but the app has exploded in popularity there too. Currently, Classroom is the most popular education app on the App Store.

Zoom has also been a popular way for many teachers to keep curriculums going with schools out — much to the chagrin of the app’s rating. Luckily, the Android app hasn’t seen the same issues when it comes to reviews as it sits at a 3.9/5 stars.

Classroom is a free service for schools, non-profits, and anyone with a personal Google account. Classroom makes it easy for learners and instructors to connect—inside and outside of schools. Classroom saves time and paper, and makes it easy to create classes, distribute assignments, communicate, and stay organized.

Teachers can add students directly or share a code with their class to join. It takes just minutes to set up. Like the rest of G Suite for Education services, Classroom contains no ads, never uses your content or student data for advertising purposes, and is free.