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Zoho’s Arattai Hits No. 1 in India as Downloads Pass 1 Million, Prompting Scrutiny of Chat Encryption

A ministerial push for India‑made apps triggered a surge that vaulted the messenger up the charts.

Overview

  • Daily sign‑ups jumped from roughly 3,000 to 350,000 within three days, reflecting a rapid viral upswing.
  • Google Play downloads have crossed 1 million and the app says it is the top Social Networking app on Apple’s App Store.
  • The spike produced OTP delays, contact‑sync glitches and call failures, with Zoho acknowledging instability and scaling servers as some issues are addressed.
  • End‑to‑end encryption is enabled for voice and video calls and for a “secret chat” mode, but regular messaging lacks WhatsApp‑style E2EE, raising privacy concerns.
  • Zoho emphasizes that personal messaging data will not be monetized and says user data is stored in India, while touting performance on low‑bandwidth networks and low‑end phones.