Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Promises Big Arattai Updates, Says 'This Is A Marathon'

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has assured users that the company is working actively to improve WhatsApp rival Arattai messaging app. Responding to user concerns on X, Vembu said the team is releasing updates

every week and building very important features before pushing the app more aggressively in the market."We are doing updates weekly. We are working on some very important features. We will market it more once we feel we are satisfied with the feature set! This is a marathon. We are geared for it," Vembu wrote On X.

The Arattai app, developed by Zoho, had a soft launch in January 2021, but gained massive popularity and surge in downloads in September 2025 due to endorsements from Indian government officials and a push for Made in India digital platforms, making it a trending alternative to WhatsApp.Even several prominent personalities, including senior government ministers joined the platform. The app even topped the App Store charts in September gaining over 3.5 lakh sign-ups in just three days.Arattai comes with key features such as one-to-one chats, group chats, voice and video calls, end-to-end encryption and support across multiple devices including desktops and Android TVs. However, many users have raised issues over the last few months.Several complaints highlight OTP delays, slow contact sync and call glitches due to heavy server load. A number of users also reported that performance dropped whenever a large number of people tried to use calling features simultaneously.To address the security and stability concerns, the company recently rolled out system-wide end-to-end encryption on the platform. Vembu explained that this was a 'drastic change' that required internal redesign and extensive testing. He said the new version is currently being tested by around 6,000 Zoho employees before it reaches the wider user base.The company’s phased approach shows that Zoho wants Arattai to be solid and reliable before going all out with marketing campaigns. With the messaging space becoming increasingly competitive, the success of Arattai will depend on how well it solves these issues and meets user expectations.For now, Vembu’s reassurance suggests that Arattai is gearing up for a bigger push — but only once the core experience is polished and ready.