Google Messages, the default messaging app on most Android devices, has officially crossed the 10 billion install threshold, cementing its position as one of the most widely adopted apps worldwide. Since reaching 1 billion installs back in May 2020, the app has added an average of over four million new installs daily, highlighting explosive growth in how people connect through their devices.
This milestone underscores not just the popularity of Google Messages but also the rapid expansion of Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging. Over 14 billion RCS messages are exchanged globally every day on the platform, allowing users to enjoy advanced features like high-quality image sharing, typing indicators, and read receipts-capabilities that Apple integrated into iPhones starting in 2024, bridging the gap between iOS and Android conversations.
In the United States alone, Google Messages records approximately 110 million daily active users and racks up over 1.1 billion RCS messages every day. On a global scale, daily active users surpass 750 million, with more than 1.2 billion monthly users. These figures reflect Google Messages’ dominance in messaging on Android, and its growing presence across platforms following Apple’s RCS adoption.
The shift away from carrier-specific messaging apps is largely credited to Google’s push for a unified RCS standard. Major U.S. carriers like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T have retired their proprietary apps, funneling users toward Google Messages as the primary texting interface. The next step, according to industry insiders, is the imminent rollout of end-to-end encryption for RCS chats, promising enhanced privacy for cross-platform conversations.
Google Messages now joins an elite group of Google-developed apps with over 10 billion installs, including YouTube, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, and Chrome. For reference, YouTube was the first Google app to cross this mark in July 2021, followed by Maps and Search later that year. Android’s vast user base and the pre-installation of Google apps on devices with activated accounts largely fuel these staggering install numbers.
Closer to the 5 billion installs club is The Phone by Google app and a handful of utilities like Files by Google and Google Assistant, indicating that beyond communications, Google’s ecosystem of productivity and utility apps continues to thrive on Android devices worldwide.
With smartphone messaging habits evolving fast, Google Messages’ remarkable growth signals that the future of texting is not just about SMS but a richer, more interactive experience supported by universal standards. What remains intriguing is how this will influence Apple’s iMessage dominance and whether end-to-end encryption on RCS can finally guarantee privacy without fragmenting the user base across platforms.