WhatsApp is now officially one of the few on the Google Play Store to have reached the gargantuan 5 Billion download figure. Well, that’s when you’re excluding some of the pre-installed Google apps, because those don’t count. The messaging app WhatsApp is now the second non-Google app to get that many downloads after a decade on Android and Play Store. The first to hit 5 Billion of course, had to be none other than WhatsApp’s parent company: Facebook.

Facebook hit 5 Billion installs last year.

And this doesn’t necessarily mean that WhatsApp is the ‘best messaging app’ around, but rather an indication on how we as a species have moulded to making WhatsApp the norm. I mean, I have my own problems with the platform, but it isn’t going to stop me from using it. Reality is, WhatsApp is easy. Not much hassle in getting set up, its features are good, and being a number based system makes it easier to sync your contacts to the app itself, among other things.

But we have to take into account the numbers also consist of pre-installed versions, as some companies like Samsung have it pre-installed. Also, there’s probably a bunch of those installs for people who have multiple devices (like us here at PC.com), so it’s not entirely fair to say they have 5 Billion users at any given time. They have however, claimed they have over 1 billion daily active users, so.

And while I am thoroughly bored of using WhatsApp, it’s more so a necessity than anything. So I guess I’ll have to keep using it. For now anyway.