WhatsApp Has 5 Billion Downloads On Google Play Store

WhatsApp is the most popular Android app in India. With a huge userbase consisting of a billion active users, this is among the first applications we install on our smartphones to communicate with our friends and families.

The app has now crossed the 5-billion download mark on Google Play Store and become the first Android app to ever achieve this. India is the biggest market for WhatsApp with more than 400 million users. Recently, on New Year’s Eve, global WhatsApp users sent 100 billion messages, setting a new world record, 20 billion of which were from Indian users.

With such many downloads, however, WhatsApp is not the best messenger app to go for because it still has security vulnerabilities as well as bugs. But the app also works constantly to fix the flaws in time. However, many people are switching to other options like Telegram and Signal, which gives WhatsApp a tough competition.

To maintain its userbase and user engagement, the company tried to fix bugs quickly and bring new, interesting, useful features.

Recent leaks revealed that WhatsApp is working on a self-destructing message feature that will make the message disappear completely after a set time, leaving no records, no trace. The feature, though, will only work for group conversations, not personal ones.

On the other hand, WABetaInfo spotted new info related to the feature in the beta version 2.19.348. Users can also choose the period of time after which the messages will disappear, the options vary from one minute to one year.