Top 10+ Oldest Apps That Still Exist Today

Rosemary December 06, 2023 | 11:30

Do you remember the first app you used on AppStore or Google Play? Let’s guess how old it is? Check out Top 10+ Oldest Apps That Still Exist Today.

The Oldest Apps That Still Exist Today

Table of Contents
When did the App Store start? When did the Google Play Store start? 1. YouTube 2. Gmail 3. Google Play Store 4. Twitter 5. Facebook 6. Angry Bird 7. Skype 8. WhatsApp Messenger 9. The New York Times 10. BeeJive IM 11. Ronaldo game In conclusion

When did the App Store start?

Many people think that the Nokia 6110, which came out in 1997, was the first mobile app because it had a built-in version of the simple video game "Snake." Another thing about the first iPod was that it had games already built in.

But when Steve Jobs was young, in 1983, he first thought of the App Store...or at least a very basic form of it. Jobs thought of a place where people could call in and buy software. The iTunes shop opened soon after Apple released the iPod. It was like a forerunner to the Apple App shop. The iPhone came out in June 2007 and was well received by both critics and customers. After native apps were made, the App Store opened a little more than a year later.

There is no "true" first app because the first App Store opened with 500 apps. However, as new types of smartphones came out, new app clients were also made available. More people can enjoy different apps on their phones thanks to Google Play, the Amazon App Store, and Blackberry's App World. It's also important to note that from the start, each store had both paid and free apps, so the idea of "premium" and "freemium" material was always there.

When did the Google Play Store start?

Google made a big change to Android on March 6, 2012, that put all of the app shops for the operating system together on one platform: the Google Play Store. Android users used to have to get songs from Google songs, movies, TV shows, and apps from the Android Market. They also had to get ebooks from the Google eBookstore. When Google decided to combine all of these shops into one portal, it made things a lot easier for everyone who owns an Android device. It also likely helped the OS reach more people in general.

Top 10+ Oldest Apps That Still Exist Today

1. YouTube

Shown up on May 23, 2010

Created by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim

When it comes to sharing videos, YouTube has been the only game in town. The first time it worked with Android was May 23, 2010, when it let users watch a huge library of movies on their phones.

YouTube became very popular and grew very quickly. YouTube had only been around for 18 months when Google bought it for $1.65 billion in stock in November 2006.

2. Gmail

Started in 2008

Developer: Google

On October 29, 2008, just one week after the Play Store opened, Google released Gmail for Android people. The power of Gmail was brought to Android devices, which was a big step forward in mobile email. This also makes it one of the oldest and most-used apps on the Play Store.

3. Google Play Store

Born on October 22, 2008

Developer: Google

It makes sense to start our journey at the place where it all began. The Google Play Store opened on October 22, 2008, and used to be called the Android Market. There were only a few apps available at first, but now it has grown into a huge market with millions of apps for every demand.

4. Twitter

Launched on March 11, 2011

Developed by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams

Twitter, the app that changed the way we talk to each other in 280 characters or less, came out on Android on March 11, 2011. You can now get to everything from hot topics to retweets from the palm of your hand.

Hashtags (#) were not meant to be used to organize and look for topics on Twitter from the start. Users were the ones who made this practice famous. Chris Messina used a hashtag in his very first tweet in 2007.

5. Facebook

Photo: Facebook

Launched on December 1, 2010

Developers: Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz.

Facebook, a huge social networking site, came out in the Google Play Store on December 1, 2010. This change changed the way we share and connect with each other by letting Android users take their social links with them wherever they went.

The well-known Facebook "Like" button used to be called the "Awesome" button. It was changed to "Like" before it went live.

6. Angry Bird

Launched on October 15, 2010.

Created by Rovio Entertainment

Also interesting? Playing Angry Birds. The first movie in the hugely popular series came out in December 2009 and was a huge hit right away. Around three billion downloads had been made across all games in the series by 2015. This made it the most popular paid software ever. A lot of spinoffs and products were made. There were movies, theme parks, and soft drinks everywhere. These birds still rule the market today, even though they aren't as famous as they were in the past.

7. Skype

Launched on October 5, 2010.

Started by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.

Skype was the first video chatting app, and it came out for Android on October 5, 2010. With this app, our phones became windows to the world, letting us have face-to-face talks with friends, family, and coworkers far away.

A world record was set by Skype in 2012 when 24,791 people from 162 countries joined a group video call at the same time. This call was a party for Skype's 10th birthday.

8. WhatsApp Messenger

Started on August 7, 2010

Started by Brian Acton and Jan Koum.

Two former Yahoo workers came up with WhatsApp Messenger, which was released in the Play Store on August 7, 2010. We had no idea that this simple text app would become so important to our daily lives and help us stay in touch with family and friends all over the world.

It can be used anywhere in the world and covers more than 60 languages. India, Brazil, and Indonesia are some of the countries that really like it.

9. The New York Times

Started in 2008

The Times' paywall may be the most important new feature, but the app is still one of the best news apps in the App Store.

The way it looks hasn't changed much, but in the original app, you needed Wi-Fi to read stories, which seems crazy now that I think about it.

10. BeeJive IM

Started in 2008

It's one of the oldest IM apps for iOS, but it's still one of the best. As you can see from the three-year-old friend list on the left, BeeJive hasn't fixed anything that isn't broken.

Even though it's pretty pricey, BeeJive always has the most up-to-date support for IM protocols and a lot of settings that you can change.

When BeeJive first came out, there was no way to get push updates for messages. Instead, BeeJive would send you emails when there were new messages if you weren't using the app.

11. Ronaldo game

There was Rolando before there were Angry Birds.

Rolando was one of the first great games to use the accelerometer in the iPhone, and the cute characters in it seem to have been a sign of things to come.

Rolando and its follow up, Rolando 2, are no longer in the App Store's list of the top 200 paid games. It might still be selling, but it's not as good as it used to be.

Also, it's worth a dollar if you've never played it.

In conclusion

There are apps here that may be as old as you are. They're still one of the most popular apps in the world, even though they came out a long time ago. No new app can replace them.