Signal tops free apps category on App Store beating WhatsApp

Cross-platform encrypted messaging service, Signal has climbed to the top spot in the free apps category of the App Store in multiple countries, including India.

The official Twitter handle of Signal on Saturday shared a screenshot, showing it placed above WhatsApp at the top spot in India. "Look what you have done," it tweeted.

Along with India, it became the top downloaded app in Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Hong Kong, and Switzerland as well.

Signal began to witness a spike in downloads after users worldwide started receiving popups, asking them to agree to its revised policies before February 8 or lose their account.

With Tesla CEO Elon Musk telling his followers to use encrypted messaging app Signal, shares of an obscure and unrelated company called Signal Advance surged a massive 1,100 per cent as some people bought that unrelated stock.

Encrypted messaging app Signal saw a significant surge in new users signing up for its platform after Musk, tweeted to his 41.5 million followers to use Signal and apparently shun WhatsApp.

The stock surged 527 per cent on Thursday and another 91 per cent on Friday, jumping from 60 cents to $7.19.

The store price of Signal Advance multiplied 12-fold in two days. Signal Advance is so small that it doesn't report financials with the US SEC, till this happened.