Google has confirmed that support for Android Instant Apps is now available on over 500 million devices across the globe. The Instant apps, that are the lighter version of apps, and don’t require installation, were introduced at the Google I/O last year.
Google confirmed this in a blog post on Thursday. Also, it mentioned that a number of Google Play apps and games across a range of categories have already started building with instant apps.
“We’re excited to announce that 500 million Android users now have access to instant apps across countries where Google Play operates. A number of Google Play apps and games businesses across a range of industries have already started building with instant apps,” reads Google’s blog post.
Furthermore, Google has also listed few companies that have launched instant apps and have witnessed success in their native app experience. One of them is Vimeo, the video streaming service. Google mentions, since the launch of its Instant App, Vimeo has seen an increase of session durations by 130 percent.
Next, the New York Times Crossword also launched its Android Instant App version. As per Google, since its release, the NY Times Crossword saw over double the number of online sessions compared to its regular app.
What are Android Instant Apps?
Instant apps allow users to simply go to the Google Play Store, via a website, search, social media, messaging, or other deep links. Then, instead of fully downloading and installing the app, they can simply click on an “Open App” option to use it instantly. So, users can access an app without storing it on their device.
Moreover, Instant Apps are not meant to replace regular apps. They are just lightweight versions of their native counterparts. These are meant for as a teaser to the full app. For developers, it is a way to introduce their app as a demo to people, so they might be attracted to download the full version.
Android Instant Apps currently supports the latest Android devices from Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Google says it will be expanding the support to Android 5.0 Lollipop shortly. Furthermore, Android O makes Instant Apps better, since it will allow the searching of Instant Apps from the launcher.
