Arattai, developed by Zoho, represents a noteworthy attempt within India’s broader effort to foster digital autonomy. The app’s nomenclature, which translates to “chat” in Tamil, signals its cultural rootedness. The rapid increase in user adoption—jumping from 3,000 to 350,000 daily sign-ups within three days—demonstrates the power of governmental and business endorsements in shaping technology uptake. For a brief period, Arattai even surpassed WhatsApp in India’s app store rankings, a testament to its immediate impact.
User base and Network Effects
Despite this surge, Arattai faces significant challenges in disrupting the entrenched network effects that uphold WhatsApp’s dominance among over 850 million Indian users. The network effect, wherein a platform’s value increases as its user base grows, creates high barriers to entry for emerging platforms. Predecessors such as Hike and Koo saw early success only to lose relevance as user enthusiasm waned. Zoho’s founder, Sridhar Vembu, advocates for an open messaging protocol akin to India’s UPI system, aiming to mitigate monopolistic tendencies and foster interoperability.
Technical Features
Arattai boasts a suite of features that rival global apps, but it also has some key limitations. From a technical standpoint, Arattai is optimized for performance in low-bandwidth environments, a pragmatic choice given the prevalence of budget smartphones and inconsistent internet connectivity in rural areas. The platform pledges to forgo advertisements and data monetization, storing user data exclusively within Indian data centers. End-to-end encryption is currently available for voice and video calls, though full encryption for text messages remains under development. Notably, Arattai supports group chats with up to 1,000 participants, file sharing up to 2GB, and a multi-platform presence—including Android TV, which is presently lacking in WhatsApp’s offerings.
Nevertheless, Arattai’s rapid growth has exposed technical vulnerabilities: delays in one-time password delivery, sluggish contact synchronization, and sporadic application crashes. Zoho has acknowledged these issues and is expanding its server infrastructure in response. Additionally, the app’s current absence of artificial intelligence integration may be perceived as a strategic emphasis on core functionality; however, this could become a disadvantage as AI-driven features become industry standards.
Technology and AI Sectors
Zoho’s technological autonomy is particularly salient. The company operates its own servers and utilizes custom-built, open-source software, thereby avoiding dependence on major cloud service providers. This infrastructure, refined over fifteen years, underpins Arattai’s reliable communication services, particularly its high-quality voice and video calls.
Arattai’s success is intertwined with the “Made in India” and “Swadeshi” initiatives, reinforcing national self-reliance in the digital sector. Endorsements from government officials and the app’s positioning as a privacy-focused alternative to foreign platforms have resonated with a populace increasingly attuned to data security concerns.