For both iOS and Android, Signal is currently the most popular app in its category. This puts the app ahead of Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s WhatsApp. Where does this interest come from?
Signal is gaining popularity in Eurppe. Both in Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, the messaging service tops the list of most popular apps in its category in different member states. According to the company itself, interest in Signal has been growing since January and continues to do so. A Signal spokesperson states that Belgium is one of the fastest-growing countries for the service.
What’s the Problem?
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company. He showed himself to be a fervent supporter of the American president Trump, and since Trump’s inauguration, abolished moderation rules against fake news (in America). Protection for the LGBTQ+ community was also scrapped, both in terms of Meta’s internal diversity policy and on the social media platforms themselves. For instance, it’s now explicitly OK for Meta to call LGBTQ+ people mentally ill. Those who want to distance themselves from this can look for an alternative to WhatsApp.
More generally, the popular WhatsApp is part of the commercial Meta. WhatsApp secures your messages via end-to-end encryption but does keep track of who you message and when. This metadata contributes to Meta’s advertising network, from which Team Zuckerberg profits. More and more people are becoming aware of this, and the fact that social contacts are tracked as data for targeted advertising doesn’t sit well with everyone.
A concrete example clarifies this: you have a friend who wants to buy a new car and is looking up information about it on the internet. Meta knows this, of course, through tracking cookies. You often message this friend via WhatsApp, but not necessarily about the car. Meta knows your connection and may still mark you as a target for car advertisements. After all, your opinion can influence that of your friend, and vice versa.
Advertisers pay Meta for this highly targeted digital advertising capability, which means your use of WhatsApp directly contributes to Meta’s revenue. In the current geopolitical climate, not every WhatsApp user is happy with this.
- Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have become even more controversial since President Trump’s appointment in the US, and using WhatsApp contributes to their income.
Why Signal?
Signal is the obvious alternative to WhatsApp for several reasons. First and foremost, WhatsApp’s main technological advantage actually comes from Signal: the end-to-end encryption that ensures no one can read your messages is an implementation of the open Signal protocol. So when it comes to the security of message content, you’re at least as well off with Signal.
More importantly is what Signal does with metadata: absolutely nothing. Signal doesn’t keep track of who you message and when. This further guarantees your privacy, and you don’t financially contribute to the advertising network of a multinational whose ethical practices you might not agree with.
- Signal is a similar app with almost the same functionality and very secure message encryption, but it doesn’t track your metadata.
Where Does the Money Come From?
This is possible because the Signal Foundation, unlike Meta, is a non-profit organization. Signal is led by Meredith Whittaker, an advocate for everything related to personal privacy. The company itself derives its income from donors, including several philanthropists with deep pockets and a soft spot for privacy.
The Signal Foundation is a non-profit organization.
Among others, Brian Acton has already donated $50 million. Acton co-founded WhatsApp, worked briefly for Meta (then still Facebook) after the acquisition, but left the company in 2017 due to concerns about privacy and the direction of the company. Acton then co-founded the Signal Foundation, in an apparent attempt to redo the WhatsApp story but with a focus on integrity.
Users also donate to Signal, which is transparent about its costs. Donate is an important word here, in contrast to invest. Those who donate do not suddenly acquire an ownership percentage in the foundation. There are no hungry investors behind the Signal Foundation, and thus no commercial pressure to keep user data or monetize it. Signal has an income model that makes it more robust against the commercial temptation that drives other companies to turn their users into their product.
- Signal and the Signal Foundation work with donations instead of investments. The app is managed by a non-profit and is therefore not under commercial pressure.
Why doesn’t everyone switch?
The first question is to what extent you are concerned about the controversy surrounding WhatsApp and Meta. A second factor is convenience. In Europe, WhatsApp is immensely popular, and switching is perceived as a hassle.
Moreover, there is no complete feature parity between WhatsApp and Signal. Signal does have a desktop client, but it is somewhat more limited, for example, in sending gifs. The focus on privacy also means that message backups are a bit more cumbersome.
Nevertheless, there is a trend where Europeans want to give Signal a chance. This is evident from the download figures of the app. It illustrates a hunger for a WhatsApp alternative.
- WhatsApp can do a little more, and is especially well-established everywhere. Even a small action is quickly perceived as a hassle. Yet Signal has momentum.
Should you download Signal?
You don’t have to do anything of course, but why not? Those who are not pleased with Meta’s power can chip away at the quality of the advertising service by moving conversations from WhatsApp to Signal. Those who are not fans of power concentration among tech giants in general contribute to an interesting and secure alternative.
A complete switch is not necessary. We’ve all used SMS and WhatsApp alongside each other for years. You can perfectly use the app alongside WhatsApp. Even in this way, you make a small but relevant impact as a consumer. If Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram have a place on your phone, Signal can probably fit in as well.
Finally, the popularity of Signal sends a signal to European policymakers. Voices keep emerging there that want to read your messages, supposedly in the name of security. Signal, through CEO Whittaker, is a very vocal opponent of Big Brother regulations where the state can read your personal and business secrets. Downloading Signal is, in this way, a vote for safety and privacy.
- Downloading Signal costs you nothing and can be done perfectly without giving up WhatsApp entirely, if you want to give the app a chance. You don’t need to renounce WhatsApp to use Signal.
What will the future bring?
Whether Signal will really catch on on a large scale remains to be seen. The platform stands or falls with its users. Signal is the only real alternative to WhatsApp at the moment. Telegram cannot fulfill that role: the algorithm behind Telegram’s encryption is not open and therefore not guaranteed to be secure, and the setup of that platform makes it too ideal for malicious purposes. Other solutions such as RCS currently still have insufficient built-in privacy protection.
Signal hopes that the momentum will continue, and therefore happily communicates about the good results in the Play and App Store. WhatsApp remains the most functional messaging app, but Signal is in second place. The main reason to install the app, however, remains ideological. It’s difficult to predict to what extent people are and will remain engaged.