Consumers prefer messaging apps with privacy features to ensure safety, report says

Encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are also popular mediums for sharing media content like high-resolution photos, videos and songs.

Users are now spending 67% more time on messaging apps than on social media.

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Consumers are seeking messaging apps that offer enhanced privacy features like end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages.

This comes as the pandemic drove up usage of messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram by more than 13% in the past 4 years, according to app intelligence firm App Annie.

Apps providing privacy features have seen the greatest engagement growth in the past few months, witnessing 30% more active users on an average than alternative apps, the firm stated.

Preference for apps built with privacy features is evident across the globe, especially in India, Brazil, Australia and the UK. Total time spent and the number of sessions per user within these apps is also increasing at a faster rate than non-encrypted alternatives worldwide.

The amount of data, in megabytes, used in each session has increased more than 50% from 2015 to the first half of 2020. This suggests that encrypted apps are being used more frequently to share rich media content like videos, songs and high-resolutions photos.

The pandemic helped messaging apps gain traction, with users spending 67% more time on messaging apps than on social media, according to App Annie. Messaging apps including Facebook-owned WhatsApp have faced criticism in the past, with users doubting the data collection policies.