Instagram has been around for what feels like forever, but it seems like just yesterday that the app migrated over to Android after being a long-time iOS exclusive. Today marks one year of Instagram’s presence on Android, and to celebrate the company shared on its blog that in just that short time almost half of its users come from Android.
Last we heard, Instagram had over 100 million active monthly users in February, growing at a rapid pace at that. The push over to Android was a huge part of that, garnering over 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours.
At the time, Instagram had around 30 million installs on iOS.
Since then, Instagram has been acquired by Facebook for $1 billion.
Both iOS and Android have maintained steady growth since that fateful April afternoon. In fact, just two weeks after the acquisition Instagram announced that it had surpassed 50 million active users, with 5 million new sign ups per week.
Eight months ago, that number climbed to 80 million, as Android entered its fifth month of availability.
The photo-sharing app is one of those “so-basic-you-hate-yourself-for-not-thinking-of-it-first” kind of success stories, but there is clearly so much strategy going on in the background. Instagram beat everyone to the game with a way to make mobile photos beautiful and share them quickly. Simple, but such a crucial problem solver and game-changer in the trajectory of mobile technology.
And taking it a step further than that, you have to remember that Instagram spent more than a year on iOS as an exclusive before opening up the Android-flavored flood gates. A year later, Instagram’s decision to include Android seems to have paid off handsomely.
Comment