Google Photos has just crossed a major milestone on the Google Play Store. The app has surpassed the 10 billion downloads mark on the default app store for Android devices. Google Photos is the latest app from the house of the search engine giant to achieve the 10 billion users milestone. The previous Google app to accomplish this goal was Drive, which it achieved in early 2024

It took nine years for Google Photos to cross the 10 billion downloads mark

After being introduced in 2015, it took Google Photos nine years to cross the 10 billion downloads mark on the Play Store. Thanks to a user-friendly interface, a number of unique features, and cloud integration, the app quickly gained popularity on mobile devices. Google Photos was downloaded by more than 1 billion Android users in 2017, two years after launching.

After 2017, Google Photos was pre-installed on almost every Android smartphone that was sold. The app began maintaining over one billion active users in July 2019. By the end of 2020, Google Photos crossed the 5 billion downloads mark on the Google Play Store. In recent years, it has become the main photo-management application on Android smartphones and tablets.

Many OEMs like Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi also ship their devices with another pre-installed gallery application. However, the smorgasbord of features and an ample amount of free storage still make Google Photos a popular choice among users. Despite the free storage policy change that came into effect in 2021, Google Photos continues to capture a fair share of the photo-management app segment.

Google Photos is the 10th app from Google to hit the 10 billion users milestone

Notably, Google Photos is the 10th application from Google to cross the 10 billion users milestone on Android devices. It has joined Chrome, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, the Google app, and Drive. Several core Android services like Play Services, Speech Services, and the Android Accessibility Suite are also in the same club.

Google continues to drive more users towards the Google Photos app by introducing new features from time to time. The app has already received Gemini AI-powered features like Magic Editor and Magic Eraser earlier in May. More AI-based functionalities are expected to be released for the popular media app in the coming weeks.