Active Android phone users top 1 billion


Google has announced that its Android phone user base has now topped 1 billion.


Speaking during its annual Google I/O developers' conference, Android chief Sundar Pichai revealed the huge milestone, adding that Android phone usage has been doubling every year.


With mobile phone purchases growing rapidly, with 315 million mobile shipments made in Q4 2013 alone, this huge figure shows just how strong Google's position is in the smartphone market.


The 1 billion figure is based only on 30-day active users, people who are using their Android phone every day.


As for their actual usage, Pichai highlighted that Android users on any given day are sending over 20 billion text messages and check their phone 100 billion times every day.


Front-facing cameras are being used loads too, with 93 million selfies taken every day on Android phones. Pichai even joked that 31 million of these are duck faces, according to his team in the Google offices.


With the increased mobile fitness focus, Pichai also added that the average number of steps taken by Android users is over 1.5 trillion each day, which is pretty impressive.


These figures were announced as part of Google's I/O Keynote on June 25, which was used to focus on the new L version of the Android operating system.


Read more: Google I/O - What to expect