Microsoft Word Hits 1 Billion Installs on Android

The mobile version of Microsoft Word has hit an impressive milestone: It’s been installed over 1 billion times on Android.

You can verify this number for yourself by visiting the app’s entry in the Google Play Store: Google says that the app has been installed “1,000,000,000+” times. But I first heard about this from Android Police, which tracks this kind of thing. The site notes that Word for Android is the first Microsoft app to hit the one billion milestone, and it was previously the first to hit 500 million installs as well.

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Word’s success on mobile—it has no doubt been installed several hundred million times on iOS as well—speaks to the power Microsoft can still wield in ecosystems in which it is just a participant and not the platform’s creator. Microsoft Word, like other Office apps like Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, is ubiquitous in the corporate world and all are widely used by consumers as well. So it’s perhaps not surprising that so many people would want to access this functionality on the go as well. Both PowerPoint and Excel have over 500 million installs on Android, and Outlook is at over 100 million installs.

To put these numbers in perspective, Microsoft Office at its pre-Office 365 height was installed on over 1.5 billion PCs. And Microsoft still uses the 1.5 billion figure to describe the entire Windows user base across all versions. (Windows 10 is likely at about 850 million users by this point.)

It’s worth pointing out, too, that Microsoft Word for Android is very well-received by users: It has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, and has been reviewed by over 3.5 million people. So the app itself isn’t just a corporate requirement, it’s a solution people also like to use.

Not bad for an application that debuted in October 1983 on—wait for it—Xenix, a Microsoft-branded version of UNIX that never sold well. The first version of Word for MS-DOS appeared later in 1983 as well, and it was sold with Microsoft’s first mouse so that customers could get used to the then-new peripheral.

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  • dallasnorth40

    Premium Member
    13 July, 2019 - 9:48 am

    <p>Wow! That is a really big number of installs for an app.</p>

  • PeterC

    13 July, 2019 - 10:34 am

    <p>That’s very impressive. </p>

  • MikeGalos

    13 July, 2019 - 11:20 am

    <p>And an application that the industry press at the time was certain would not only never catch up to WordPerfect but would be unlikely to even threaten MultiMate or WordStar for "also-ran" status. </p>

  • waethorn

    13 July, 2019 - 11:39 am

    <p>What? Have you forgotten about Microsoft's pre-install deal with Samsung?</p>

  • RonV42

    Premium Member
    13 July, 2019 - 8:36 pm

    <p>Don't knock Xenix, We used it for OEMing many vertically integrated small to mid range POS, scheduling, and inventory management systems. Very stable, reliable. </p>

  • Bats

    13 July, 2019 - 11:06 pm

    <p>What? An app <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">that isn’t just a corporate requirement, but a solution people also like to use? The .DOC and .DOCX format is a "standard" file format. Of course people are going to prefer to go with the FREE app that allows them to best access the file. </span></p><p><br></p><p>People exchange emails with .DOC or .DOCX files as attachments. Which would people prefer to open those docs with on their phone? WPS Office? Polaris? LOL…..Thurrott clearly doesn't know how this works. </p><p><br></p><p>LOL, "…..it's a solution people also like to use." Ya know, when I clean my teeth, I use toothpaste. Do I like using toothpaste to clean my teeth? LOL, like what choice do I have? I just use toothpaste, because I know THAT's what I need to use. It's just like Word. People use it, because they know they have to. Sure, other people can use other softwares like WPS or Polaris or Libre etc……but it makes no sense to do so, when Word is available and FREE.</p><p><br></p><p>Another misunderstanding is the 4.5/5 rating. If people really like to use it, the rating should be 4.8 and above. </p><p><br></p><p>I know Thurrott is at a big disadvantage here, because he never was in a corporate environment . He doesn't know. It's one of the reasons why he is constantly wrong about almost everything because he doesn't understand the real world. Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, MP4, MP3, .ZIP, etc.. These are the standard file formats or creators of them throughout the world. People will always go to them first, because they have to. Not because "<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">it’s a solution people also like to use." LOL….that's fake news. </span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • jaunty

      14 July, 2019 - 1:18 am

      <blockquote>Hey, you forgot to hit crazy to the end of your name. LOL.</blockquote>

    • wp7mango

      14 July, 2019 - 6:22 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442404">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p>No need to throw all your toys out. After all the garbage you wrote, it still doesn't change the fact that Word has been installed on over 1 billion Android devices. That's an impressive number.</p><p><br></p>

      • waethorn

        14 July, 2019 - 3:32 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#442439">In reply to WP7Mango:</a></em></blockquote><p>It doesn't mean users did though. Microsoft has agreements with 20-some Android OEM's to have it preinstalled, including Samsung.</p>

        • wp7mango

          14 July, 2019 - 4:04 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#442509">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Perhaps. However, why would a user need to install it if it's already preinstalled by the OEM?</p><p><br></p><p>We know that users often install Chrome on Windows because they prefer it to Edge. What evidence is there for similar behaviour, on the same scale, for Word on Android being replaced by something else better by users? </p>

          • waethorn

            14 July, 2019 - 11:23 pm

            <blockquote><em><a href="#442512">In reply to WP7Mango:</a></em></blockquote><p>Any time someone goes into the Google Play Store to do the first set of updates, it counts as an install, since the original is NOT installed via the Play Store (it's baked into the image).</p>

            • wp7mango

              15 July, 2019 - 4:18 am

              <blockquote><em><a href="#442651">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>I don't get your point? </p>

    • blackcomb

      14 July, 2019 - 5:15 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442404">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>That does make sense.</p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    14 July, 2019 - 7:43 am

    <p>I've installed it a few dozen times on my phones. I load it to read a document, don't use it for months, delete it, rinse and repeat.</p>

  • markld

    Premium Member
    14 July, 2019 - 9:13 pm

    <p>I use Word for Android on my Pixel 3A almost every day and I really like it. I can see why it has so many installs. It is functional and I use it in conjunction with Word on my laptop. With One Drive I am happy with syncing between the two. Microsoft has done a wonderful job. </p>

  • markbyrn

    Premium Member
    15 July, 2019 - 7:32 am

    <p>That would include preinstalls; a more illuminating &amp; agnostic statistic is the number of ratings on iOS between Word and Google Docs. Word has 487K ratings (#14 in Productivity) vs 828K for Google Docs (#7 in Productivity) </p>

    • faustxd9

      Premium Member
      15 July, 2019 - 1:30 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#442683">In reply to markbyrn:</a></em></blockquote><p>I tend to disagree with you on part of your statement. Reviews by their very nature are not agnostic, they are very subjective. In addition, since every user is not required to review a product are highly misleading and skew towards a reason for reviews. Either the software nags you to the point of just making it easier to review it, you are a fan-boy and feel it is your duty to review the application, or you really love/hate the application. I almost never review an application that doesn't make it painful not too. </p><p><br></p><p>What would be truly illuminating is active usage statistics. Those are probably the ones that we would never get. I would also think that pre-installs would heavily favor Google Docs (on Android) since that comes on more hansets day one than anything. </p>

  • growide

    16 July, 2019 - 3:50 am
  • toolsarcade

    12 September, 2019 - 6:09 am

    <p>Congratulations! My all time favorite Microsoft Word. </p><p><a href="www.toolsarcade.com" target="_blank">Best Wishes</a></p>

  • infotitude

    03 November, 2019 - 1:27 am

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Thanks For Great and interesting infotitude</span></p>

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