BANGALORE: Gmail, the reigning Web-based email service in the world recently adds another feather to its cap by being the first ever app in the Android market to reach the 1 billion download milestone, reports India TV.

The app’s download tally counts the total number of unique accounts, excluding the total number of downloads and devices using the app. However, it doesn’t mean that there are a billion active Gmail users. The number, perhaps, includes some abandoned and duplicate accounts, according to Android Police.

Way back in 2012, it was noted that Gmail had 425 million active monthly users, which by now have increased dramatically with the ever-growing popularity of Android, added Android Police. As per AppBrain website, Gmail reached the halfway billion marks back in June 2013.

The increasing popularity of Gmail app as well as other Google Play apps can be attributed to the popularity of Android where most of the tools are installed by default on every certified Android device operating on Android 2.2 and above. As such, the mobile platform has been remarkably efficient at achieving this goal.

Gmail will celebrate its 2-year anniversary as the most widely used email service by next month. This is yet again a reminder of just how big Google’s role has become in the mobile industry.