Signal will not replace Whatsapp, says Signal boss and Whatsapp co-founder Acton
Signal. (Photo: signal.org)
No time right now?
The change in terms and conditions at Whatsapp has triggered a rush for alternatives such as Signal or Telegram. Signal will not replace WhatsApp, says someone who should know.
From the beginning of February, Whatsapp wanted to make data exchange with Facebook mandatory by changing the terms and conditions. The announcement resulted in an apparently unexpected flight of users in the messaging app. Whatsapp has meanwhile postponed the introduction of the new guidelines to May. The alternatives, such as Signal, Threema or Telegram, which benefited particularly from this, each reported a real surge of users. But whether they can hold a candle to Whatsapp in the long run?
Contents
Acton recommends Signal for family chats
In any case, Signal will not replace Whatsapp, said Whatsapp co-founder and current Signal boss Brian Acton the US news platform Techcrunch. Both apps have different approaches. Acton recommend Signal when people want to communicate with their family or close friends. For all other chats you could use Whatsapp. Acton said he did not want to offer all the functions that Whatsapp had. Instead, he wants to give people a choice.
The following figures illustrate the extent to which the Whatsapp escape and the rush of users on the competitors take place: According to the analysis company App-Annie, Signal had around 20 million monthly active users at the end of December. According to the sensor tower, the app was downloaded 7.5 million times in the days between January 6 and 10. For comparison: Whatsapp reached the two billion user mark for the first time in February 2020. Telegram has around 525 million users, of which 25 million are said to have been added in the days after the Whatsapp announcement alone.
Signal wants to live on donations
In comparison to Whatsapp, Signal has the advantage that the company – similar to Wikipedia – relies on donations. A sale of user data to advertisers is just as unintended as the display of advertising at all. The project was kicked off with a $ 50 million capital injection from Acton, who became a billionaire after Facebook bought Whatsapp. After leaving the dispute over the marketing of Whatsapp, Acton has meanwhile called on people to leave Facebook. He did not advise against using WhatsApp.
