Google+ Mobile App - 4th Most Used App in the World

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Report finds Google+ the 4th most used app in the World, according to GlobalWebIndex. Ahead of both Twitter and Instagram.

In a recent report by GlobalWebIndex, they have listed the ten most popular smartphone apps used during Q2 of 2013. The usually suspects; Facebook, Google Maps and YouTube hold the top 3 spots. The most surprising news to come out of this report is that Google+ sits at number 4, beating WhatsApp, Instagram and even Twitter as the most used apps in the world.

While it may be surprising to find Google+ is more used on a smartphone than Twitter and Instagram, however this does tie up with recent news that Google+ is now the 2nd most popular social network in the world, with only Facebook ahead. 
Some have speculated how significant this news is that Google+ is 4th, with reasons pointing towards that if users want to use YouTube, Hangouts or other Google services they need to have a Google+ account. While this is true, you do not need the Google+ app installed to use the YouTube app or even chat with friends using the Hangouts app. This reports demonstrates that users are actively using Google+, viewing their news stream and posting status updates.

Interestingly, there is no mention to the Hangouts app. It appears many users are using Google+, but it looks like Hangouts adoption may be slow in favour of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and even Skype. However, the report is only covering usage within the 2nd Quarter of 2013 (April - June). Hangouts was officially launched in May during Google I/O, so possibly we could see Hangouts appear in the list at the end of the year.

Are you surprised by the findings in the report? Let us know in the comments!