The Messaging Apps market continues to be dominated by two giants together taking the number one spot in 168 countries including Uganda– which is 89% of the countries measured according to the latest insight report by by website and app tracking service, Similar Web.
As the number one messaging app in 104 countries, WhatsApp Messenger takes the top place in more countries than any other app. Delving deep into stats further reveals the WhatsApp is the most popular app in Uganda and the rest of Africa with the exception of Algeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea, Liberia,CAR and Madagascar where its blue sibling, Messenger emerges on top while Viber takes Ethiopia, Libya and Mali.
Though down from 107 countries in December 2016, it is losing some of its lead to Facebook Messenger. The latter actually gained significant traction this year, as it is the top Messaging App in 64 countries, up from 58 in December 2016.
Other notable mentions are Viber Messenger, rated the top messaging app in 10 countries, and Line in three countries worldwide. Newcomers imo free video calls and chat have picked up while others like Skype, Zalo – Gọi Video sắc nét and BBM – Free Calls & Messages have been abandoned by most users.
App Engagement
As an important key performance indicator for messaging apps, Engagement stats shows that WhatsApp Messenger is highly popular in the countries where it leads – installed on over 90% of devices in 45 countries including Uganda. South African users are as active as Indian users, though the install rate is slightly lower at 92%. In the United Kingdom, WhatsApp Messenger is installed on 84% of Android devices, and 56% of them use it daily.
Facebook Messenger, on the other hand, only sees this significant penetration in 8 countries, with the highest being the Philippines at 91%. In the United States and France, for example, that number hovers around 60%, with 41% of users using it daily.
Overall, penetration is a useful indicator of success in mobile messaging apps. The top app was installed on over 80% of devices in 140 countries measured – 74% of the measured set. Only four countries saw lower than 50% install rates for their top app.
These numbers get even more interesting when looking at the top two spots for mobile messaging. Facebook Messenger takes one of the top two spots in 92% of countries, and WhatsApp Messenger in 76% of countries. Together, a total of 131 countries – 70% of the world’s countries analyzed – have both WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger taking the top spot respectively.
In 2016, stats showed that the increased usage of services such as WhatsApp had recently drawn the attention of state authorities and had been gagged on two occasions in Uganda opting users to switch to alternatives like Telegram or switch on their VPN apps.
