Pokémon Go on Android: Already bigger than Tinder, may soon be as big as Twitter

Five days after the launch, Pokémon Go — an augmented reality game in which you hunt virtual Pokémon on your phone in real-life locations — is huge.

It's so big, actually, that it's already catching up with some of the largest social networks out there, at least on Android. According to mobile app analytics company SimilarWeb, the game had been installed on an enormous 5.16% of all Android devices in the U.S. by July 8. 

To put things into perspective, SimilarWeb compared the numbers with several top Android apps out there. As of July 8, Pokémon Go was installed on twice as many Android devices in the U.S. as dating app Tinder.





"Over 60% of those who have downloaded the app in the US are using it daily, meaning around 3% of the entire US Android population are users of the app. This metric (...) has put Pokémon GO neck and neck with Twitter, and in a few more days, Pokémon GO will likely have more users Daily Active Users than the well-established social network," SimilarWeb's Joseph Schwartz wrote in a blog post Sunday.

Finally (and somewhat unsurprisingly, given games are typically time-consuming), Pokémon Go is consuming an enormous amount of its users' time: more than 43 minutes per day, ahead of WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook's Messenger. 



Pokémon Go is still very new — in fact, its global launch has been delayed due to the high demand — so these numbers could significantly change over time, in any direction. But right now, it's taking the mobile world by storm. 

The game is not without controversy, though. In Missouri, police are investigating what they believe to be a string of armed robberies that targeted Pokémon Go players over the weekend. And one Wyoming native found a dead body in a river while searching for a Pokémon.