this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024
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Privacy
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That is not the reason: Signai is very good but it's not the best. The reason why it's more popular is because it's good, ubiquitous and easy to install.
In other words, it's a well-known app you can confidently tell your computer idiot friends and family to install on their phone and start communicating with them 5 minutes later. What's what makes it popular.
When it was sms compatible it was a suuuuper easy sell for my family
"It's way more secure when you text me but you can still text everyone else you know too. And we can still use it through wifi if cell service isn't working for me."
I like the way you assign different attributes to friends and family.... 😁 Computer idiots, friends and family or ... Computer idiots friends, and family ....
Signal is nowhere close to being popular.
Telegram has almost 1 billion users, which is why governments are unhappy with it. Signal is a niche toy for a very small number of people.
I think it may depend on where you are. Back when Whatsapp went belly up, myself, my entire family, and every other person I know IRL switched over to signal within a week, so I think it may be more popular than you expect, though still not as popular as Telegram as you noted.
They don't even bother reporting Signal usage, it's a round off error: https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-global-mobile-messenger-apps/
Telegram has almost 1 billion users, half as many as WhatsApp