Android app downloads
Instagram has achieved one billion app installs on Google Play store despite not yet hitting the 6 year mark as an entity. The other three Facebook-owned online services to reach one billion app installs are Facebook itself, WhatsApp and Messenger.
The photo sharing, video sharing and social networking service was launched in October of 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and it did not take long to hit its first milestone, either, passing the one million mark in users in just two months.
Reaching one billion Android app installs on Google Play store is not indicative of the numbers of current users, however, as users download multiple apps. As of June of 2016 the estimated number of active Instagram users was 500 million.
Instagram photo sharing
The Android Police reports Instagram is the 19th app to reach one billion installs and notes the figure is all the more impressive given there are but 1.4 billion Android users.
Primarily a photo sharing app, Instagram began by limiting users to smaller sizes but evolved. As Wiki notes, the app initially “confined photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid SX-70 images, in contrast to the 4:3 aspect ratio typically used by mobile device cameras.”
“In August 2015, version 7.5 was released, allowing users to upload media captured in any aspect ratio,” Wiki continues. “Users can also apply digital filters to their images.”
When videos were introduced on Instagram they began with a 640×640 fixed resolution with a 15-second maximum limit, but the time-limit is now 60 seconds and resolutions are now up to 1080p.
Facebook acquired Instagram in 2013 for one billion in cash and stocks.
