WhatsApp has overtaken Facebook Messenger to become the most popular social messaging app across the US, China, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia.
Just under half (44 per cent) of people use WhatsApp at least once a week, compared to 35 per cent who said the same for Facebook Messenger.
The research from OnDevice also found that WeChat is the third most popular social messaging application with 28 per cent saying they use it at least once a week, followed by Twitter with 19 per cent, BlackBerry Messenger with 17 per cent and Skype with 16 per cent.
The release of BBM as an app for iOS and Android has been a “winning move” from BlackBerry, OnDevice said, as a month after the release 34 per cent of people in South Africa and 37 per cent on Indonesia are using it regularly.
The research also found that messaging apps are now the most popular way of staying in touch with daily use across the 5 countries stands 86 per cent compared with 73 per cent using their phones for voice calls, 75 per cent using SMS and 60 per cent using email.