Telegram is the most downloaded mobile app for January 2021 as WhatsApp slips to fifth

Sensor Tower is a research group that compiles a list of iOS and Android apps by downloads per month. Its latest such report covers January 1 to 31, 2021, a month in which WhatsApp's questionable compromises on  privacy were highlighted, resulting in mass virtual walkouts among its users. This issue may have contributed to a sizeable boost in new Telegram downloads.

They were estimated at 63 million, or 3.8 times those from January 2020, according to Sensor Tower. 24% of them were downloaded in India, followed by Indonesia at 10%. WhatsApp, on the other hand, was the third-most installed app on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store in December 2020, only to fall to seventh and sixth respectively in January 2021.

Its downfall may have been Signal's salvation: the app made #2 and #10 on the Play Store and App Store rankings in January 2021 (and #3 overall), despite not featuring at all in December 2020's top 10 lists. Meanwhile, TikTok posted a healthy #2 ranking overall in SensorTower's latest report, with nearly 62 million installs. Then again, 17% of them were technically for Douyin, its Chinese-market version, although the United States accounted for another 10%.

Finally, Zoom fell from its December 2020 #5 spot to seventh most downloaded in January 2021. This may seem odd given ongoing lockdowns in many countries worldwide; then again, it might suggest that many consumers and workers already have the app on their phones.

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