Telegram Rockets To Number One Downloaded App In World 

The two-word Tweet from Elon Musk on Jan. 7 saying “Use Signal” has helped fuel millions in Signal and Telegram downloads. More importantly, Telegram, an instant messaging app with file transfer capabilities, has rocketed to the world’s top app download. 

Musk, the world’s richest man, told his Twitter followers of more than 46 million to “Use Signal” last month amid concerns about an updated privacy policy for WhatApp.

On Jan. 12, days after Musk tweeted, Telegram said they “surpassed 500 million active users. 25 million new users joined in the last 72 hours: 38% came from Asia, 27% from Europe, 21% from Latin America, and 8% from MENA.” 

Nearly one month later, Mobile analyst firm Sensor Tower reports Telegram was the most downloaded app in the world for January. Meanwhile, Signal placed third. 

In December, Sensor Tower ranked Telegram at number 9 on the list, with WhatsApp at number 3. WhatsApp has since slid to the number 5 spot. 

Sensor Tower estimates Telegram downloads are up 3.8 times from January 2020, with a massive 63 million last month. 

Telegram founder Pavel Durov credited Telegram’s success to “consistency” in a post on his Telegram channel.

“For the last 7.5 years, we’ve consistently defended the privacy of our users and regularly improved the quality and feature set of our apps,” he said, suggesting “focused effort [applied] over a long period of time” would bring success, whether it be in “sport, blogging, art, coding, business or studying.”

… and it wasn’t just WhatsApp users migrating to Telegram. Many conservatives have been booted off Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in an ideologically-driven purge by Silicon Valley, forcing many of them to find a new platform.  

From Musk’s tweet to conservatives finding a new home after being purged from traditional social media channels, it appears Telegram last month greatly benefited from the great migration. 

In case you’re wondering what makes Telegram so special – well – the company laid it out in a tweet: 

“Some users like the unlimited cloud storage, some like the synced cross-platform apps, some like Telegram’s dedication to privacy and security.”