Telegram joins elite list of apps downloaded over one billion globally

Telegram has been around since 2013 but it witnessed an exponential growth only after WhatsApp's confusing policies came into play.

Telegram has joined the list of apps that have been downloaded over 1 billion times globally. Interestingly, India has a huge role to play in Telegram's new victory as it has the maximum number of users in India. As per reports, India is the largest market for Telegram with 22 per cent of its lifetime installs. Telegram has been around since 2013 but it witnessed an exponential growth only after WhatsApp's confusing policies came into play. A lot of users who were clueless about WhatsApp's new terms of services and privacy policies downloaded Telegram fearing invasion of privacy.

The Sensor Tower report revealed that Telegram crossed the 1 billion downloads mark first on Friday. "[India is] followed by Russia and Indonesia, which represent about 10% and 8% of [all installs], respectively. The app's installs accelerated in 2021, reaching about 214.7 million installs in the first half of 2021, up 61% year-over-year from 133 million in H1 2020," the Sensor Tower data reported by TechCrunch revealed. Interestingly, Telegram's rival WhatsApp also has the largest user base in India.