Telegram is now the number one most downloaded app in the world

Remember back in January when Elon Musk urged his 44 million Twitter followers to ditch Facebook and use the secure messaging app Signal? The two-word tweet was all it took for Signal and Telegram to skyrocket. Immediately after Musk’s tweet, Signal and Telegram reported a massive increase in downloads.

On Jan. 7 Musk tweeted saying “Use Signal.” Between January 6 and January 10, Signal saw approximately 7.5 million installs globally through the Apple App Store and Google Play store, according to Sensor Tower. On January 12, about 5 days after Musk tweeted, Telegram said it “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.”

Fast forward a month later, Telegram has skyrocketed to the number one most downloaded app in the world. Sensor Tower, a mobile app research firm, reported that Telegram was the most downloaded app in the world for January while Signal placed third. Telegram turned out to benefit more from Musk’s tweet.

Here’s the backstory of how it all started. In early January, WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned app, began issuing a privacy update notification to users making clear that it is sharing user data with Facebook. That decision led people to look elsewhere for a secure communications app, helped along by Elon Musk’s Jan. 7 tweet.