Telegram now has 400 million users worldwide

1 min read 27 Apr 2020, 01:22 PM IST Prasid Banerjee

WhatsApp had said it has 2 billion users worldwide
Telegram has collaborated with ministries and governments in 17 countries worldwide

NEW DELHI: Instant messaging app and WhatsApp competitor, Telegram, has 400 million monthly users globally, it said on Monday. The platform has added 100 million new users from a year ago and has built its user base on the promise of secure messaging. WhatsApp had recently said it has 2 billion users worldwide.

“Every day 1.5 million new users sign up for Telegram," the company claimed in a blog post. It also claimed that Telegram is the number one most downloaded social media app in over 20 countries.

Telegram has also collaborated with ministries and governments in 17 countries worldwide to announce various anti-covid initiatives. The company has a partnership with the Indian government, launching the MyGov Corona Newsdesk that provides verified news and updates to users.

The company has also been working on a secure video chat feature on the platform, to cash in on the growing popularity of video chat applications due to the worldwide covid-19 lockdown. “There are apps that are either secure or usable, but not both. We’d like to fix that, and we will focus on bringing you secure group video calls in 2020," the company said in its blog post.

Gaining users for group video won’t be easy for Telegram though. Established apps like Zoom, Skype and more already have mileage with users. In addition, Facebook recently announced a new video chat application, called Messenger Rooms, and increased the number of people allowed on WhatsApp’s group video feature to eight from four earlier.

Telegram created its user base through the promise of security. The company has also been known to take strong stands against censorship and has openly spoken out against many world governments as well.

Other than the announcement about its user base, Telegram also announced some new features, which includes a Quiz Mode that was added recently and a new attachment menu for Android users.