More customers within the United States downloaded chat app WeChat and its encrypted various Signal, after President Donald Trump threatened to ban WeChat, owned by Chinese firm Tencent, in accordance with Sensor Tower knowledge shared with Reuters on Thursday.
WeChat customers within the United States rushed to put in the app earlier than it may disappear from the app shops. Others, particularly in China, sought alternate options just like the encrypted Signal, owned by non-profit Signal Foundation.
WeChat app downloads within the United States rose 41 % in a six-day common from the week previous to the US ban announced final Thursday, in accordance with Sensor Tower. Signal app downloads in US and China app shops individually jumped by 30 % and 90 %.
“Not only are alternatives like WhatsApp and Telegram officially blocked in China, but Signal has an inherent advantage in that it’s well known for being strongly encrypted,” Stephanie Chan, Mobile Insights Strategist at Sensor Tower informed Reuters. Signal didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.
WeChat customers have additionally turned to a different Tencent-owned chat app, QQ, because the ban didn’t particularly cowl this product. Its downloads within the United States have tripled previously week, Sensor Tower knowledge confirmed.
Some Chinese immigrants and expats fear dropping entry to the favored WeChat may reduce off contact with household and mates in China, the place hottest US immediate messaging apps together with Facebook, Whatsapp, and Telegram have been blocked by the Chinese authorities’s Great Firewall.
It was unclear how the administration may implement the ban on WeChat in mid-September. It may order Apple and Alphabet’s Google to take away WeChat from their app retailer, or order the apps to cease providing entry or updates to US customers.
Some customers stated they deliberate to entry WeChat within the United States utilizing a digital non-public community (VPN), a standard device individuals in China use to cover IP handle to evade authorities restrictions.
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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