WhatsApp now 'rules' over half of the world: Report

WhatsApp is widely known to be the world’s most popular messaging app. Here's more proof to it. According to recent research from digital market intelligence company SimilarWeb, WhatsApp is the top mobile messaging app in 109 countries across the world. In India, Facebook-owned Whatsapp is installed on 94.8% of all Android devices and is used for an average of 37 minutes daily, according to the report.

Of the 187 countries that SimilarWeb surveyed, WhatsApp emerged as a clear leader in 109 nations, or 55.6% of the world.
Other than India, other countries where the messaging app has a strong user base are include Brazil, Mexico, UK, Russia, and several countries in South America.



Facebook’s Messenger app came in second overall, having dominating presence in 49 countries including Australia, Canada, and the US. After Messenger, Viber was the only other messaging app which has a strong presence in 10 or more countries. The app shows strong popularity in Eastern Europe, and is the top app in Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and others.



In fact, as of April 2016, Viber was installed on 65% of all Android devices in Ukraine and was used for an average of 16 minutes a day. Viber is also popular in some other parts of the world including countries such as Iraq, Libya, and Sri Lanka.



Line, WeChat, and Telegram are three other messaging apps that boasts of presence in multiple countries with China, Iran and Japan representing countries using one of these apps. Japan’s obsession with Line is well documented with people in the country using it for an average of 40 minutes a day.

Finally, apps that have presence in only one country include KakaoTalk in South Korea, imo in Cuba, Zalo in Vietnam, ChatOn in Eritrea, and BBM in Indonesia.