Telegram becomes most downloaded app in January: Sensor Tower report

New Delhi: Driven by a renewed surge in India amid WhatsApp privacy row, Telegram has become the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for January 2021 with more than 63 million installs, 3.8 times its downloads in the same month a year ago, according to latest data released by app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Facebook-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp, by contrast, is seeing its growth decline following a fiasco that forced the company to clarify a privacy update it had sent to users.

 Telegram reached the top position in the overall downloads (non-game) on Google Play Store moving from ninth position in the previous month, December 2020.

In a blog post by Sensor Tower, Telegram was the top downloaded application by the Android users. However, the app stood on fourth for downloads by iOS users. Despite this, Telegram topped the overall non-gaming downloads last month.

The blog mentioned TikTok being the second most downloaded application with 62 million downloads.

According to the latest Sensor Tower data, Signal came third in the overall downloads worldwide for January, leaving Facebook and WhatsApp behind.

Facing a huge backlash in the country, WhatsApp deferred its new data privacy policy by three months and said that no one will lose his or her account from February 8 for not accepting the updated terms of service.