WhatsApp concerns drive Telegram and Signal downloads

This illustration picture taken on August 16, 2019 in Paris shows a smartphone showing the Telegram app logo. Image: Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP

Telegram and Signal top the list of the world’s most-downloaded applications of January 2021, according to Sensor Tower. This success can be seen as a direct consequence of WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy — expanding data sharing with its parent company, Facebook — which has sparked concern among users.

Ever since WhatsApp announced the controversial privacy policy update, which has now been pushed back three months, many users have been looking for alternative messaging solutions promising greater user privacy, such as Telegram and Signal, two of January’s most popular applications.

Telegram was the world’s most downloaded mobile app of January 2021, with over 63 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower. In comparison, that’s almost four times more than the same period last year. Note that India and Indonesia recorded the highest number of Telegram app installations.

In addition, the success of TikTok continues, since the application was the second most downloaded app in January (62 million app installations), just ahead of Signal, another WhatsApp alternative. Despite the buzz around Telegram and Signal, Facebook’s WhatsApp remains in the top five most downloaded apps worldwide.

Top 10 most downloaded apps worldwide, January 2021

1. Telegram
2. TikTok
3. Signal
4. Facebook
5. WhatsApp
6. Instagram
7. Zoom
8. MX TakaTak
9. Snapchat
10. Messenger

NVG

RELATED STORIES:

Why is there such a fuss at the moment about Signal?

Black Mirror? Microsoft eyes bringing dead people back as chat bots