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The best free Google Play listings in South Africa on Tuesday.
- South African iPhone users and, with a slight delay, Android users, are quickly downloading the Telegram messaging app.
- Signal is also experiencing rapid adoption in SA.
- Both are now constantly displacing WhatsApp on download charts, following their disastrous demand that users sign up for new policies or get started.
- WhatsApp is now working hard to send the message that it cannot read your messages, but it is not changing its privacy policy.
- For more stories, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
South Africans are testing Telegram in large numbers, and its competitor Signal to a slightly lesser degree, amid an exodus from WhatsApp.
But it’s still unclear how many users will actually stick with the two lesser-known apps.
Data from the Google Play Store for Android devices and Apple’s App Store for iPhones show that Telegram and Signal are the number one and number two most downloaded apps respectively for the third day in a row.
As of Tuesday, WhatsApp had been relegated to number four on iPhones and number seven on Android smartphones.
That’s a big change for all three apps. On January 1, data from information provider Sensortower shows that WhatsApp was the second most downloaded app for iPhones, second only to the government’s Covid Alert app. Telegram came in at 58th place and Signal didn’t make the top 100.
On the same day, on the Play Store, Telegram reached number 64.
The change was first slow, then fast. Telegram surpassed WhatsApp in iPhone downloads on January 7, but Signal still lagged behind on Apple’s platform. Android users took longer to test out alternative messengers, only pushing Telegram to the top of the Play charts on Sunday, three days after it hit first place with Apple.
See also | How to check if WhatsApp already gives your information to Facebook, but it will take three days
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many South African users are actively trying to switch major groups from WhatsApp to Signal or Telegram, but it is not yet clear how many manage to convince family, friends and colleagues to take the leap. It’s also unclear whether those who download rival apps stick to them or if they return to WhatsApp after failed migration attempts.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has made efforts to assure users that their privacy is not at risk, with a focus on message security. In a new FAQ, the Facebook-owned company emphasizes that end-to-end encryption of text and calls means you can’t see the content of the communication.
“We do our best to build WhatsApp in a way that helps people communicate privately,” WhatsApp says, adding that it had received “serious questions” about its new privacy policy and terms of service.
It has not made changes to those policies, nor has it offered any way to opt out of sharing data with Facebook, including phone numbers and at least approximate location information.
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