Microsoft Edge has been downloaded over one million times on Android

Microsoft surprised folks back in October when the company released its Edge browser for Android. We say “released,” but the app was in preview up until almost two weeks ago. Even so, Microsoft hit an important milestone as Edge officially surpassed one million downloads on Android.

We realize how minuscule that number can be when compared to Microsoft’s other offerings on the platform. For example, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive have all surpassed the 100-million-download threshold. Even Microsoft’s Authenticator app, which provides a two-step authentication process for Microsoft products and services, as well as multi-factor authentication for other services, already passed the one-million-download threshold.

Even so, Edge’s one million downloads is an impressive feat. For one, it was available in preview form for almost two months before shedding its beta tag not too long ago. Also, thanks to the number of downloads, Edge is the third most-popular free communication app on the Play Store, with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp the only apps in front.

Personally, I’ve grown to like Edge on Android, thanks to its use of Chrome’s Blink engine. This gives Edge the same feel as Chrome on Android has, which lends to its snappy nature.

Edge also includes a solid number of features, such as Favorites, Reading List, New Tab Page, and Reading View. There is also a dark mode, in case you don’t want your retinas to burn in low-light scenarios, and “Continue on PC,” which lets you pick up where you left off on your Windows 10 version of Edge.

That’s where Edge really becomes useful, though it stands just fine on its own as a solid Android browser alternative to Chrome. It might not feature extension support, something I really miss when navigating through ad-heavy webpages, but Edge is a solid alternative to the likes of Firefox and Opera.

You can give Edge a download at the link below, if you want to give it a spin, and let us know in the comments if you’ve given Edge a shot.