Privacy-focused messaging app Signal has been flying excessive within the Dutch app shops this previous month, typically sitting on the high as probably the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android throughout all classes, per information from a number of app-tracking platforms similar to Sensor Tower.
The app has skilled surges in reputation over time, typically in response to coverage modifications at rivals like WhatsApp or geopolitical occasions. That’s as a result of Signal has made a reputation for itself as a extra privacy-friendly possibility — it’s operated by a not-for-profit basis (albeit one based mostly within the U.S.) moderately than a personal enterprise centered on monetizing information. Moreover, Signal tracks minimal metadata.
In 2025, with a brand new U.S. president empowered by Big Tech’s heat embrace, it’s not shocking that digital privateness instruments are having a second — significantly in Europe, which has attracted President Trump’s ire.
But what’s particularly eye-catching this time round is Signal’s prominence in a single very particular locale — the Netherlands.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf final week, Signal President Meredith Whittaker famous that the variety of “new registrations” within the Netherlands was larger this yr by an element of 25, although it’s not clear what the precise comparative time frame is for this information.
When requested why the Netherlands has seen such progress, Whittaker pointed to a mixture of things: “Growing awareness of privacy, distrust of big tech, and the political reality in which people realize how vulnerable digital communication can be,” Whittaker mentioned.
Data offered to TechCrunch from app intelligence agency AppFigures charts Signal’s rise within the Netherlands. Per its information, Signal ranked 365th amongst non-game iPhone apps within the Netherlands on January 1 and didn’t seem within the high general apps record. Then, beginning round January 5, it started to climb the rankings, reaching the highest place by February 2.
Signal has dipped out and in of the lead within the intervening weeks, spending round half of February on the summit — together with every day since February 22. Digging deeper into the information, AppFigures estimates that mixed downloads throughout Apple and Google’s app shops totaled round 22,000 in December 2024. This jumped to 99,000 in January and soared to 233,000 by means of February — a 958% rise since December.
While a few of this progress could also be attributed to Signal having decrease saturation than in different markets, the app’s sustained place on the high in comparison with similar-sized neighboring markets is notable.
“No other markets come close to the Netherlands in terms of growth between December and February,” AppFigures instructed TechCrunch.
For comparability, since December, Belgium has seen downloads develop by greater than 250%, Sweden by 153%, and Denmark by 95%.
So why may Signal be experiencing what one Redditor referred to as a “mass adoption moment” within the Netherlands?
Clear sign
Rejo Zenger, senior coverage advisor at Dutch digital rights basis Bits of Freedom, mentioned that whereas it’s tough to pinpoint one particular motive, he’s not stunned.
Recent developments within the U.S. have seen the massive platform suppliers align with the brand new Trump administration, and this has stoked vital public and media debate. Europe’s reliance on know-how from large non-public U.S. corporations has develop into a focus in that debate.
“The Dutch are, just like many others, highly dependent on the infrastructure provided by extremely dominant tech companies, mostly from the U.S.,” Zenger instructed TechCrunch. “What this implies, and the dangers that come from this, have been properly demonstrated previously few weeks. As a consequence, the general public debate within the Netherlands has been comparatively sharp. Where previously this downside was solely mentioned on the extent of ‘which instantaneous messenger ought to I exploit,’ I really feel now we’re having the talk on larger…
