Android Instant Apps now support 500 million devices

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Announced back in 2016 during Google I/O, Android Instant Apps today have reached a milestone of being supported by 500 million devices. In a post on Android Developers Blog, Google announced that after it opened up Instant Apps for the public at this year’s I/O, all the countries where Google Play operates will have access to instant apps starting today.

“Since our public launch at Google I/O this year, we've been hard at work expanding the number of supported devices and the availability of instant apps, so that users can run your apps instantly, without installation,” writes Jonathan Karmel, Product Manager at Google.

So what are Android Instant Apps?

Instant Apps enable users to experience a native app without the hassle of installing it on their smartphone. So for example, you need to access information that’s available on some website but is only accessible through its app. Now instead of going to the Play Store and installing it, you can just launch the app directly is that app supports Android Instant Apps module which makes it accessible without installing it.

There are more than 50 apps right now that have support for Android Instant Apps with more apps building support for the same. Google also shared some insights from the apps which were already running as Instant Apps. Out of them, Vimeo’s instant app saw an increase in session duration by up to 130 percent while New York Times Crosswords app had twice the number of session per user. 

How to activate Android Instant Apps?

Go to Setting and select Google from the menu. Tap Instant Apps under the Services section and turn on the toggle to “opt in” to Instant Apps.