Signal and Telegram grow in popularity as users shun WhatsApp

FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to logos of social media apps Signal, Whatsapp and Telegram projected on a screen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Audio By Carbonatix

Following WhatsApp's latest update in their terms of service, messaging apps Signal and Telegram have seen a sudden increase in their subscriber count.

The controversial update to WhatsApp's terms, asking users to allow their personal data to be shared with its owner Facebook, stirred a lot of debate about privacy concerns, causing some users to instantly delete the app.

Signal's popularity shot up further on Thursday after it was endorsed by Elon Musk, who has one of the most-followed accounts on Twitter and by Twitter's own top boss, Jack Dorsey.

Ironically, WhatsApp uses Signal's end-to-end encryption protocol to secure users' chats.

More than 100,000 users installed Signal across the app stores of Apple and Google in the last two days, while Telegram picked up nearly 2.2 million downloads, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower.

New installs of WhatsApp fell 11% in the first seven days of 2021 compared with the prior week, but that still amounted to an estimated 10.5 million downloads globally, Sensor Tower said.

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