WhatsApp Rivals Signal 263s5h Telegram Saw Nearly 1,200 Percent Growth Ahead of Deadline: Report

Signal’s first-time s climbed 1,192 percent YoY to 64.4 million in the first four months of 2021, while Telegram installs grew 98 percent YoY to over 161 million, according to Sensor Tower. 6m3u3

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 17 May 2021 11:36 IST

WhatsApp Rivals Signal, Telegram Saw Nearly 1,200 Percent Growth Ahead of Deadline: Report

Photo Credit: Reuters 3v6d2p

WhatsApp’s update has helped both Signal and Telegram become more popular

Highlights

Signal and Telegram both saw a massive growth in January
The growth, however, normalised in April
WhatsApp’s installs declined 43 percent YoY between January and April

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WhatsApp rivals Signal and Telegram saw a nearly 1,200 percent growth ahead of the Facebook-owned instant messaging app's May 15 deadline to accept a contentious update, according to a report. Although WhatsApp recently took a step back and scrapped its last deadline, the public outrage that started in January has helped its two close alternatives attract new s. Both Signal and Telegram also utilised the outrage and took to social media platforms like Twitter to speak against WhatsApp's . The alternative messaging apps also promoted their privacy aspects to gain over WhatsApp.

Mobile apps analytics firm Sensor Tower has recently decided to scrap the deadline, though the updated policy is still in place and the s who would not accept it will encounter limited functionality on the app.

Sensor Tower said that in the first four months of 2021, Signal saw its first-time s growing 1,192 percent year-over-year (YoY) to 64.4 million worldwide, while Telegram's installs surged 98 percent YoY to over 161 million. This was unlike WhatsApp installs globally that dipped 43 percent YoY to 172.3 million in the January–April period.

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Signal installs in January grew 5,001 percent YoY to 50.6 million from 992,000 in the same month last year. However, the installs count fell 86 percent month-over-month to a little more than seven million.

“Although its installs have declined each month since the January spike, Signal is experiencing consistent Y/Y growth each month,” the firm said in a blog post.

Signal saw 2.8 million s globally in April, according to Sensor Tower data. It was more than double the 1.3 million s reported in April 2020.

All Your Questions Answered About WhatsApp's New

Similar to Signal, Telegram s grew 283 percent YoY to 63.5 million from 16.6 million. The app, however, saw a three percent YoY dip in its s in April — reaching 26.2 million as compared to nearly 27 million a year earlier.

The data released by Sensor Tower shows that both Signal and Telegram saw a drop in their velocity shortly after gaining some growth in January. Nevertheless, the apps were able to give a tough fight to WhatsApp that still leads the market of instant messaging platforms.

Sensor Tower said that even before its updated , WhatsApp's app installs saw a decline around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. In April 2020, the installs of WhatsApp globally dropped 28 percent month-over-month to 55.2 million from 76.5 million in March.

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“The decline in its installs throughout 2020 was possibly due to potential new s — eager to communicate with friends and loved ones — opting for the desktop or Web version of WhatsApp while sheltering in place,” Sensor Tower said.

Does WhatsApp's new spell the end for your privacy? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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