Google Messages and Phone by Google have reached major milestones on the Play Store.
Google Messages passed 1 billion downloads in May 2020 and reached 5 billion in September 2023. According to the Play Store today, Android’s default SMS and RCS client is now at over 10 billion downloads.
In that intervening period, Samsung pushed Galaxy users to Google Messages over its own app, while Verizon was another notable convert. In September 2024, Apple rolled out RCS support for the iPhone, with end-to-end encryption coming next.
At I/O 2025, Google shared that over 1 billion RCS messages are sent daily in the US.
Other first-party apps that have over 10 billion downloads include: the Google (Search) app, YouTube, Google Photos, Google Chrome, Gmail, Gboard, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Meet, Google TV, Android Auto, Speech Recognition & Synthesis, Android Accessibility Suite, and Android Switch.
Meanwhile, the Phone by Google app recently surpassed 5 billion downloads. Most new features these days are for Pixel devices, but all phones benefit from Calling Cards and the Material 3 Expressive redesign.
Other apps with 5 billion downloads include: Files by Google, Google Calendar, YouTube Music, Contacts, Google Play Games, Google Assistant, Digital Wellbeing, and Carrier Services.
More on Google Messages:
- Google Messages for web removing QR code pairing
- Google Messages launches group RCS Mentions and Trash folder
- Google Messages Real-time Location Sharing rolls out (or: How to remove the ‘plus’ dot)
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