WhatsApp reaches an Android milestone accomplished by just one other non-Google app

The most popular messaging app in the world is WhatsApp. The Facebook owned app offers text, video chat, end-to-end encryption, read receipts and much more. WhatsApp has over 1.6 billion monthly active users putting it ahead of rivals Facebook Messenger and WeChat.

In the states, WhatsApp is third behind Facebook Messenger and Snapchat. In the U.S., WhatsApp is seen as a tool for consumers and used mostly as a tool for sending and receiving messages. Outside of the U.S., especially in developing countries, WhatsApp is used as a tool for businesses to reach consumers and customers. This is similar to the plan that the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI), created by Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, has for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) app it plans to release later this year. As RCS does, WhatsApp runs over your phone's internet or Wi-Fi connection.

Spotted first by Android Police, WhatsApp has become only the second non-Google Android app to reach five billion installs. The first to reach this milestone? That would be WhatsApp's owner Facebook. The app was bundled on some Samsung smartphones in the past, and on some Huawei units too. Still, the vast majority of installs came from the Play Store making this quite an achievement for the messaging app.

Speaking of WhatsApp, if you had issues with the app this morning, it wasn't just you. According to DownDetector, the number of complaints it received about WhatsApp soared from just one at 5:26 am ET to 622 two hours later. Most of the complaints came from outside of the U.S. in places such as Switzerland, Israel, Malaysia, and France to name a few. 63% of the complaints were related to the inability to send or receive messages. 35% could not connect to the site while 1% could not log-in. The good news is that whatever the problem was, it has been fixed and service has returned to normal.

If you're interested in WhatsApp, the messaging app is free and can be installed from the Google Play Store orthe Apple App Store.