How did Google Chrome Manage to Cross 2 Billion Active Installs?

Every time you have to search for something – be it movie reviews or knowledge about something or installing a new app, anything that comes to your mind, you simply go to Google and search for it. Google is our answer to everything, in fact now while writing about Google, I have to rely on Google for all the information.

It’s not just me and you, but like us approximately a billion people have made it a home name. Currently, it is the most used browser on Windows, Google has also earned approximately 2 billion active installs within all platforms. The popularity of Chrome is not just limited to PC but has made it jolly way to mobile phones.

Lately, Google announced 2 billion active installs over all platforms making it the most popular internet browser in the world. Active installs should not be confused with active users. Active installs show the users who have installed Chrome, but installing Chrome doesn’t make sure that it is being used as the primary web browser.

Active installs should not be confused with active users. Active installs show the users who have installed Chrome, but installing Chrome doesn’t make it as a primary web browser. When we talk about active users, we are referring to those who use Chrome as their primary web browser.

A major reason for this popularity to a certain extent is that every Android smartphone comes with a Chrome pre-installation.

Features of Google Chrome in Windows

It’s not just Google Chrome but there are many other web browsers in the market which offer similar features to their users but we generally opt for Chrome due to its extra benefits. Let us understand its key features which once again proves that, Chrome is a special browser compared to its peers.

• Chrome is a very fast web browser, and it’s available free of cost.
• The browser gives the search results instantly, you simply search and navigate from the same box. Plenty of results and suggestions will appear and you can choose what you want.
• You don’t have to type the whole thing, just type the keywords or main words and all the relevant information comes up. Another boon is the Auto-fill settings, where you don’t have to fill the repeated the content again and again, Google will fill it for you. What an innovation for lazy people like me.
• You can always start from the place you left, and chrome ensures that all your open tabs, bookmarks and all the recent searches are shown in your phone or tablet from your computer.
• You can always make Chrome yours after you set up the system, where you can customize it and sync across all your devices.

If we start listing various features of Google Chrome, we might have to write a book on it! The below are some of the basic and best features provided by Chrome.

Features of Chrome on Mobiles

I guess all readers who own an Android or Windows smartphones will be having Google Chrome in their smartphones by default, and the features provided by Chrome is just the same in Phones as it is in Desktops, with little bit extension.

• Search without typing − Yes, you can make the best of it, while browsing Chrome from Google you can simply talk to Chrome, just ask your questions and get the answers through Google’s voice search.
• Save your mobile data − It’s a known fact how expensive mobile data plans have become when you use Chrome’s Data Saver you can limit the data usage up to 50 % while browsing the web through Chrome.

Google is a giant company, there is no question about it and praises are something which Google is habituated of, but there are some achievements which can make it feel prouder, like the announcement that there are approximately two billion active Chrome browsers across the world.

Chrome Installations crossing 2 billion Mark

Earlier this week, at the Chrome Dev Summit in San Francisco Chrome Engineering VP Darin Fisher announced the two billion Chrome browsers in active use across platforms which has made Chrome the first Google product to hit the two billion installs mark.

Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive Officer of Google while speaking at Google’s Developer Showcase in May 2015 stated how the statistics shows the Google’s attempts to provide users with the widest possible accessibility. He said that each of these products work at scale for everyone in the world.

He further added “With the average size of smartphone increasing, Google is also reportedly making changes to Chrome to make it easier to use with just one hand. Presently, Chrome places all of its controls on the top, making it extremely difficult to navigate on a smartphone with larger displays”.

A Major Milestone Achieved

The recent 2 billion active installation landmark marks achieving a major milestone by the company. The year 2015 witnessed the giant company announcing one billion users for every Google’s core services like Google Search, Chrome, Android, Google Maps, Google Play Store and You Tube. However, Gmail was little behind with 900 million users every month.

It has been reported that Google is planning to make Chrome browser lot easier to use on large screen devices. The latest browser builds on Android has a new feature called ‘Chrome Home’ which adjusts the address bar to the bottom of the screen.

Hidden Chrome Features

Talking about new chrome features, let’s have a look on some hidden Chrome features that are available in Android and Windows smartphones, but we never used it because we were not aware of it. These are:

• Activate Reader Mode − A reader mode helps you remove all unnecessary content enclosed within an article or document like the toolbar, ads etc and help you focus on it more. So, in case if you didn’t know it, go ahead a try it now itself. To activate it, first type Chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode-toolbar-icon in the address bar, and then click Enable. The simply restart Chrome and you are done.
• The Instant Search Results − Instead of referring to different pages to get your answer to a simple question, it is better to get it instantly in the suggestion box. This would save a lot of time. To enable this feature – go to Chrome://flags/#answers-in-suggest and select “Enabled” from the drop-down menu. Restart Chrome again.
• Hover − This feature is especially designed for smartphones, so touchscreen helps you hover your finger over them without actually touching them just like the one in Samsung galaxy notes. This is very beneficial for websites that are not optimized for mobile usage and have different sections and menus that are displayed on mouse-over. To enable it just go to Chrome://flags/#enable-touch-hover and click on Enable. So, you are good to go.

After all these features, if you don’t have Chrome installed yet, then what are you waiting for? Grab your phone or laptop and install it right now, increase the number of active users and installations of Chrome, enjoy and explore the different features of Chrome. Of course, Google is planning to broaden the growth of Chrome on all supported platforms, making it lot more difficult for the other companies, including here Microsoft, to make its position or even think about competing with Google Chrome.