Telegram Becomes the Most Downloaded App in January: Sensor Tower

Telegram has dethroned TikTok to become the most downloaded non-gaming app as of January 2021, reports Sensor Tower. The messaging platform recorded more than 63 million installs, 3.8 times downloads compared to January 2020. The app benefited from WhatsApp's new privacy policies that caused a stir and led users to look for alternatives instead of Accept the terms and conditions.

While Telegram was the most downloaded non-game app on the Play Store, it ranked fourth on Apple's App Store. On iOS devices, TikTok remains the most downloaded app in January 2021, followed by YouTube and the Zoom video conferencing app. Overall, TikTok downloads were surpassed by a million in the previous month.

Telegram rose from ninth position in December 2020 to the top in January 2021. Of 63 million downloads, 24 percent came from India followed by 10 percent from Indonesia.

However, Telegram wasn't the only messaging app to rise through the ranks. Signal downloads also skyrocketed as it was the second most downloaded app on the Google Play Store and third overall. In the Apple App Store, Signal managed to break into the top 10, as it ranked 10th on the list.

Signal witnessed a massive spike in its downloads shortly after the new privacy policies of the Facebook-owned messaging platform were introduced. The tweet from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped the app's popularity grow significantly as WhatsApp drew criticism worldwide.

In the absence of the short-form video-sharing app TikTok, the "Made in India" Moj app managed to rank eighth on the Play Store's top 10 list. It has more than 100 million downloads on the platform. Despite all the controversies, WhatsApp was on the list too, ranking fifth overall.