Telegram becomes most downloaded messaging app of January 2021

Telegram was the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide in January 2021, according to latest research by market intelligence and insights firm Sensor Tower.

The messaging app registered 63 million installs, 3.8 times its downloads in January 2020. The countries with the largest number of Telegram installs were India at 24 percent, followed by Indonesia at 10 percent.

WhatsApp delays new policy launch after privacy backlash

The spike in Telegram downloads comes after WhatsApp released its new terms of service raising grave privacy concerns. WhatsApp fell from being the third-most installed app on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store in December 2020, to seventh and sixth in January 2021.

TikTok was the second most installed non-gaming app worldwide last month with close to 62 million installs followed by Signal and Facebook and finally WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is delayed the controversial privacy update aimed at increasing business transactions on the platform after a storm of concern from users who began shifting to other messaging apps in droves.

WhatsApp said it would delay the new policy launch to May from February, that the update was focused on allowing users to message with businesses, and that the update does not affect personal conversations, which will continue to have end-to-end encryption.

Three alternatives to WhatsApp that protect user privacy

“This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook,” it said in a statement.

“While not everyone shops with a business on WhatsApp today, we think that more people will choose to do so in the future and it’s important people are aware of these services,” it said.

Facebook has been rolling out business tools on WhatsApp over the past year as it moves to boost revenue from higher-growth units like WhatsApp and Instagram while knitting together e-commerce infrastructure across the company.