Fewer and fewer download and use WhatsApp. A new report reveals that downloads have decreased by 43 percent after criticism of the app’s privacy issues.
The website Sensor Tower has released the report. It states that the number of downloads has decreased by 43 percent from year to year. At the same time as the competitors Telegram and Signal increased by 1,200 percent!
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The reason for the huge difference is supposed to be the privacy policy for WhatsApp users that was revealed earlier in January.
Extreme criticism of WhatsApp’s privacy policy
A policy that has not been particularly well received by users.
The criticism was initially so harsh that the parent company Facebook to some extent backed down with its policy. Among other things, the company will not disable and delete accounts that do not accept the policy, something they first threatened with.
Instead, WhatsApp will constantly remind users who have not approved the new privacy policy that they must do so, sooner or later.
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WhatsApp decreases – Telegram and Signal increase
And as the criticism of WhatsApp increases, so does the competition.
Heavy names such as Telegram and Signal have seen an extreme increase in the number of users. According to Sensor Tower, for example, Telegram has seen a doubling to 161 million installations.
Signal has increased even more with its 64.
6 million installations. There are not as many as Telegram, but the increase is 1,119 percent from year to year.
WhatsApp still leads with the number of installations but has decreased by 43 percent to 172.
3 million.
2020 was the year when messaging apps shone
The Corona pandemic has hit hard and brutally in many countries, and as more and more people stay at home, they need ways to communicate with colleagues, family, and friends.
As a result, many services such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Messenger, and the like have been welcomed with new users.
Even video services like Google Meet and Zoom have completely exploded in a number of users.
User behavior is constantly changing and many companies are trying to adapt their operations to a new reality that began when covid-19 struck in 2020.
