Survey results: how many of you have left WhatsApp? And for what alternative?

WhatsApp is currently experiencing the backlash from its change in policy regarding the confidentiality of user data, but also from the appearance of confidentiality labels on the App Store indicating the user data collected by each application. And while many users appreciate the free multiplatform messaging application purchased by Facebook in 2014, few of them were until then aware of the private data they provided in return.

Thus, recently, WhatsApp has suffered a real exodus of users towards more privacy-friendly alternatives, such as Telegram and Signal,compared there.

And to try to measure the enthusiasm around these competing applications among you, dear readers,Two weeks ago we launched an investigation on the subject, taking the form of two surveys. The first aimed to measure the rate of users who have left WhatsApp in recent times, the second wanted to establish a ranking of the most popular alternatives. So let's see what our investigation reveals.

Are you leaving WhatsApp? It's yes, for the most part

After more than 1,000 votes, to the question “Have you left WhatsApp”, 44% answered “Yes”, 32% answered “No”, 13% planned to leave WhatsApp and 11% not having chosen a side yet.

If we dissect these answers a little more, here is what we obtain below.

Among those leaving WhatsApp:

1 in 3 respondents left WhatsApp without friends and family following them
2 in 3 respondents left WhatsApp with friends and family

Among those who remain on WhatsApp:

2 in 3 respondents don't leave WhatsApp because of friends and family staying on the app for now
1 in 3 respondents do not leave WhatsApp, appreciating the service enough to stay

The results illustrate that it is not always easy to leave WhatsApp if all friends and family members continue to use the service. 16% of you have left WhatsApp without friends and family, congratulations to you for remaining committed despite the fact that you were not necessarily followed in your approach

But to go where?

The second survey listed a series of alternatives to WhatsApp as targets for those who no longer wanted to hear from Facebook's service. And there, surprisingly, it was Signal which hands down won the prize for the most attractive competing app in your eyes, with a score of69 %.

Telegram is far behind, collecting only14% of votes. This means that out of 10 people who leave WhatsApp among you readers, 7 will use Signal.

As for other lesser-known solutions, Viber, Threema, WeChat, Wickr or even Olvid don't really hold up. Even if the latter seems to be visibly appreciated a little more than the others previously mentioned, with a score of 3%.

This investigation will therefore have taught us thatSignal could be the big winner in this story of mistrust of WhatsApp. It remains to be clarified that the iPhon.fr audience is specific and does not represent the entire population of smartphone users in France. It would not be impossible that Telegram gets more votes from users who are less sensitive to tech news or that other solutions experience greater success on Android.

Thank you in any case to all the readers who participated in these two surveys.

While waiting for the launch of our next survey,feel free to take a look at our previous surveys and their results here.