From May 15, 2021, the new WhatsApp Terms of Service will come into effect. From this date, the instant messaging app will automatically share certain data with its parent company Facebook, including conversations between a company and a user.
This announcement caused a real backlash, and then followed the migration of WhatsApp users to competing services, including Signal or Telegram. Within a few weeks, Signal gained 7.5 million users while Telegram had 25 million users.
Signal sees 1192 increase in downloads thanks to WhatsApp controversy
According to data from Sensor Tower, WhatsApp’s announcement gave a big boost to the growth of both messaging apps. Telegram in the first four months of 2021 98% increase in worldwide downloads. 161 million Internet users have downloaded the messaging service since its creation.
Signal, on the other hand, was downloaded by 64.6 million Internet users worldwide and saw a 1192 increase in downloads within a year. Two apps are clearly taking advantage of this spotlight to increase their user base. To keep up with this new crowd of users, Signal has announced a number of new features, including the ability to send images in 4K.
“Telegram and Signal both saw a surge in adoption in January, but download speeds have slowed since then” Sensor Tower, for example, pointed out that Telegram’s numbers fell 3% in April. Signal did better with continued growth and 2.8 million downloads in April.
The Signal and Telegram boom, on the other hand, didn’t start the progress of WhatsApp. Despite the controversy, Facebook’s instant messaging program was downloaded by 172.3 million people in the first 4 months of 2021. WhatsApp continues to outperform Signal and Telegram. However, messaging growth fell 43% compared to the same period last year.
