After a dream run, Zoho-run Arattai loses traction on app stores in India

Zoho's messaging app loses momentum after a strong patriotic push, while AI-powered Perplexity sustains top rankings across Google Play and challenges ChatGPT in India

After a dream run backed by a Made in India fervour for nearly two weeks, when Zoho-run messaging platform Arattai hit and sustained the No. 1 spot in downloads on Google Play Store, it has seen a sharp fall, letting Meta-run WhatsApp go ahead of its new rival once again. 

However, it is the US-headquartered, artificial intelligence-based search engine application (app) Perplexity, cofounded by Aravind Srinivas and two others and already valued at $20 billion, that seems to have caught the fancy of Indians. It hogged the top slot from October 13 to date — except for one day when