TECH

Google Play Music hits five billion downloads

Although it can also be used on iOS-powered devices, Google Play Music has just hit an impressive milestone with the help of its Android users alone — no less than five billion downloads. This music streaming service is available in 63 countries and will probably be replaced by YouTube Music in the long run.
Announced back in May 2011, Google Play Music has made its debut later the same year, in November, after a six-month, invitation-only beta period. Available as an iOS and Android app, but also in a web browser, this music and video streaming service has just hit a major milestone in Google Play: no less than five billion downloads.
Sadly, this is probably the highest that Google Play Music will ever get, because new devices that come with Android 10 and even those that still launch with Android Pie out of the box will come with YouTube Music pre-installed instead.
Google Play Music is the sixth Android app to hit the five billion downloads milestone on Play Store, the other five being pre-installed apps by Google as well: Chrome, Gmail, Maps, Search, and YouTube. Fortunately, Google Play Music will not fade away too soon, since YouTube Music still lacks some important features, such as cloud locker, autoplay halt, sleep timer, and so on.
If you would have to choose one of the two — Google Play Music and YouTube Music — now, which one would you choose and why? The comments section is all yours, so feel free to go ahead and share your thoughts with the rest of us.

by Codrut Nistor