Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Signal becomes No. 1 app after reaching 1.3M downloads Monday

Signal becomes No. 1 app after reaching 1.3M downloads Monday

Similar private messaging app Telegram reached No. 2 on the App Store and Google Play

Private messaging app Signal held its position from Monday into Tuesday as the No. 1 free app on both the App Store and Google Play.



The app garnered about 1.3 million global downloads on the App Store Monday, according to app data and analytics website Apptopia.

"We estimate Signal has been installed 63.1 million times in its lifetime. Signal has been breaking its own daily download records since Saturday," Apptopia Insights vice president Adam Blacker told FOX Business.


Signal is an encrypted messaging app, meaning that the company cannot access any messages or calls made by users on the app.

"These types of shifts in messaging and social networking apps are not unusual," Amir Ghodrati, director of market insights at app analytics company App Annie, said in a statement. "Due to the nature of social apps and how the primary functionality involves communicating with others, their growth can often move quite quickly, based on current events."

He added that "users consistently spend more time in messaging apps than in social media apps; 67% more time on average as of H1 2020. Messaging apps that provide privacy features saw the greatest engagement growth in H1 2020. These apps saw on average 30% more active users than the alternatives."

On Jan. 4, Signal ranked No. 750 in overall U.S. downloads, according to App Annie. The number continued to jump until the app reached No. 1 in overall U.S. downloads on Sunday.

The app has benefited in popularity after people like Edward Snowden tweeted about it in 2015, with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently telling his followers to use the service, while simultaneously taking a shot at Facebook.

Encrypted messaging app Telegram also surged to the No. 2 position among free apps on both Google Play and the App Store Tuesday.

The two apps have come into the limelight recently after some people using the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app WhatsApp expressed concern with a privacy update set to roll out in February and first announced in October.


The buttons of Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Messages and other apps on the screen of an iPhone.


The update stated that businesses communicating with WhatsApp users through the app, via phone or by email "can see" what users are "saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook" if users opt to sharing that information.



WhatsApp later clarified the update in a January message, saying Facebook will not have access to any of its users' private messages or calls.

"We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," the app said in a blog post.

WhatsApp ranked No. 27 and No. 21 in overall U.S. downloads on Jan. 3 and Jan. 7, respectively, until it hit No. 38 on Sunday.

WhatsApp said Facebook will not have access to its users' private messages or calls, shared locations, contacts or groups. Users can also set their messages to disappear if they so choose.

Big Tech companies have made a number of policy changes and updates since Wednesday's Capitol riots in an effort to quell violent or conspiratorial rhetoric on their platforms, causing uncensored social apps like Parler, Gab, Signal and Telegram to see surges in downloads.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
×