Telegram, a popular messaging app, is now part of the elusive 1 billion+ installs club.
The exclusive 1 Billion+ club is considered the holy grail for app developers. Telegram now plays in the same league with extremely popular apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and most of the Google apps.
So, how did it get there?
For starters, Telegram is an awesome messaging app. It’s powerful, less restrictive, and has several features that are missing on other messaging apps.
However, the recent popularity of the app is partly attributed to WhatsApp. WhatsApp is currently the most popular messaging app on earth but over the last few months, the apps received some bad press mainly due to privacy concerns.
Lots of people love Whatsapp, it’s simple and gets the job done. However, a significant number don’t like the fact that Facebook owns WhatsApp.
So, when Facebook (company) made it mandatory for WhatsApp users to either choose to share data with Facebook (app) or leave the platform, users started looking for other options.
Telegram was the obvious option and for that reason the apps so a trove of users register for the service. This was particularly significant in countries with large populations such as India.
This was the lift that the app needed to hit the one billion installs.
It’s always a great thing when users have alternatives to choose from. It will be interesting to see if the development will be replicated on other messaging apps such as Signal.
Next: Telegram vs. Signal: What’s the best alternative to WhatsApp?
Kevin is a tech enthusiast and the lead writer at MobiTrends.co.ke. He has been writing about smartphones and tech related topics since October 2012. About Us | Contact Us
