The news that Facebook bought WhatsApp for £19 billion drove a lot of new attention to the mobile messaging app business, but when its service went down for hours not long after the acquisition, one app profited more than any other: Telegram Messenger.
The messaging app emphasizes privacy and security. The app climbed to the top of Apple's App Store charts in 48 countries with about 5 million new users added in a single day. The app is hits #1 spot in the social networking category, ahead of Facebook, WhatsApp, Kik, and others.
Telegram describes itself as "similar to to IM apps like WhatsApp, but better in every detail."
The sudden influx of users was unexpected. When WhatsApp was down for 3 hours, users are flocking to Telegram. With about 100 new users per second, Telegram faced its early issues in its connection in Europe.
Launched on August 14th, 2013 for iPhone and on October 20th, 2013 for Android, Telegram had only 100,000 daily active users four months back.
Why the Sudden Popularity?
Above all, Telegram prizes its security and its independence. Like WhatsApp it says it will never sell ads on its service, but unlike WhatsApp, it already has the financial backup. When privacy became more than a matter of concern since tech companies and the government "spy on your data", people are becoming relentlessly looking for a better place to be without prying eyes hunting their private information.
Telegram feels in many ways like a clone of WhatsApp. From its green double-checkmarks to its cartoonish wallpapers. There's also the usual features including the ability to see a friend's online status and attach photos, videos, location, contacts, and documents to messages. But where it lacks originality, Telegram makes up for it in speed and security features.
"Telegram is the fastest and most secure mass market messaging system in the world," the company claims.
Facebook is one of the companies that is seen to have the largest database of people's information. Since acquiring WhatsApp, people are starting to guess whether the giant social network "would" sell or give their data without their permission. Or even guess that the social network will defense their data from ever being taken.
The app was built and funded by Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai, the founders of Russia’s largest social network VKontakte (also known as VK or the Russian Facebook). Durov stated that Telegram was in fact built as a testing bed for his open-spurced MTProto protocol. And his main motivation for launching the product: "was to build a means of communication that can't be accessed by the Russian security agencies."
In an online FAQ the team behind the app explain that they view it as a "non-commercial project". They say the app "is not intended to bring revenue" and "it will never sell ads or accept outside investment."
"It also cannot be sold. We're not building a 'user base', we are building a messenger for the people."
In addition to these, Telegram has several features that can compete with its rivals. The features include the option to create message threads that self-delete (like SnapChat) and cloud functionality that lets users access chats and shared media from any internet-connected devices.
Telegram's Secret Chats offer end-to-end encryption without leaving a trace on the company's servers. The Snapchat-esque self-destruct timers on messages that range from two seconds to one week. There’s also the ability to check the security of your Secret Chats using an image that serves as an encryption key. By comparing the encryption key to a friend’s, the user can effectively verify that the conversation is secure and less vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, the company says.
Combining the speed of WhatsApp with Snapchat’s ephemerality and advanced new security measures, the team says that although there are chat apps available that use end-to-end encryption like they do, most of them never become popular outside of the hacker community. Telegram said that they want to make this sort of service standard for everyone.
Telegram is cloud-based and heavily encrypted, making it more secure than other messengers. Telegram's website offers more technical details about their security, but as a more tangible proof of the app's security, the app's makers also set up a competition. Each day a message is sent from two public telephone numbers using Telegram. Anyone who can monitor this communication and report it back to the company will receive $200,000 in Bitcoin. And so far, no one has claimed the prize. But the company has, in fact, already doled out $100,000 to one developer for finding a critical bug.
Telegram also allows any developer to build a Telegram client of their own, and even for desktop computers. Most new messaging services today, including WhatsApp, build one-size-fits-all messaging apps and lock out third-party developers
When privacy is more than just a concern, the idea of making even a slightly more secure messaging app available to the masses is good news for anyone who has ever sent an email and cares about the mass surveillance programs carried out by the governments.
Telegram's rise isn’t only due to WhatsApp’s acquisition and subsequent downtime. "We have been the #1 app in Spanish, Arabic, and several Latin American app stores for several weeks before the Facebook deal happened," says Telegram's Markus Ra.
With a noble goal, free services, and the experience of VKontakte's creators, Telegram is an alternative to other messenger apps. And when privacy is a concern, it's paving a solid road to become the leader.