Telegram has now been downloaded over 500 million times on Google Play

Messaging app Telegram now boasts over 500 million downloads on the Google Play store. Sure, this pales in comparison to alternatives like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which have racked billions of installs, but the important distinction here is that Telegram doesn’t come pre-installed on any device.

Moreover, the app had around 300 million users until last year, so the growth is pretty impressive. If you also count the other client called Telegram X, the tally reaches around 510 million. This version of Telegram has a slightly different interface and features smoother animations.

Last month, Telegram reached 400 million users. The developers of the app also revealed that 1.5 million new customers sign up every day. Telegram developers say that the services offered by the app facilitate remote work and study, and this has helped with popularity during the quarantine.

Cross-platform support is also available, allowing users to seamlessly switch between different devices. Telegram is also free and does not contain any ads.

The messaging app is also joining the likes of Facebook and Google to give some competition to Zoom. It has revealed plans to roll out secure group video calls this year.

The developers also threw shade at Zoom, which has come under fire for its lax security measures, by saying that video calls today are either secure or usable and it would like to fix that.