Online chat apps abound on the Play Store and iOS. WhatsApp, an instant messaging application, quickly gained popularity. Some others are taking off: Signal and Telegram. Messenger Facebook has been around for a long time but has not yet gained acceptance from users, even though it has improved its features and added new ones. Let's see how they behave in this article.
WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal vs Messenger
Let's start with WhatsApp because it is the most popular IM application currently, which also supports audio and video calls over the Internet. Telegram is taking off and just behind Telegram is the Instant Messaging Signal application with a secure call feature. Facebook Messenger is a totally different story, as you will read below.
WhatsApp: popular but privacy issues
WhatsApp is the first choice of users for sending and receiving multimedia messages. Full of GIF and emoticons, it improves the way people talk to each other.
People were using Facebook Messenger before WhatsApp. However, Facebook has privacy issues: it can not be trusted because of recent data breaches. FB Messenger allows as much functionality as WhatsApp, but people do not use it – because of its association with Facebook.
This is also the reason why people are turning away from WhatsApp. They are not sure of the privacy after Facebook has acquired WhatsApp at a more than reasonable price. People look at him with suspicion because the money involved was too high for an app that had no income model. But it was worth buying $ 16 billion, because WhatsApp has provided data for hundreds and millions of users. And as I said earlier, Facebook does not have a good reputation for privacy.
The standard short message service was used until the arrival of WhatsApp on the market. SMS services provided by telecom operators lacking encryption system, users have turned to WhatsApp. He promised end-to-end encryption and has interesting features such as newsgroups and broadcasts. But it's the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook that tipped the scales against WhatsApp. Reports revealed that some Israeli companies had created malware that monitored politicians and activists. Such news further confirms that WhatsApp is not as safe as it is self-declared.
In addition to chatting and sending SMS, WhatsApp also provides features such as voice and video calls over the Internet, which allows users to save money on their telecom operators' expenses. People have not abandoned it yet, but I can say that a sizeable share of WhatsApp's market share has been transferred to Telegram and Signal for better privacy.
Telegram – Confidentiality and flexibility
Telegram is a cross-platform email application that allows you to send self-destructive encrypted messages. I installed Telegram on my phone about six months ago. Since I had been in the habit of receiving my information on WhatsApp and that feature was being dropped, the publishers of popular news websites have asked users to switch to the channels they had created on Telegram. I have not removed WhatsApp from my phone yet, but I prefer to use Telegram to discuss critical issues.
It's not that the Telegram app will always be what it is now. All these days, people did not know her presence and what she was doing. Now that they are exploring alternatives to WhatsApp.
The main features of the Telegram app are chats and voice calls. There is a bit of learning curve here. Like the broadcast function in WhatsApp, Telegram has "channels". A channel is a unidirectional broadcast, perfect for publishers. In addition, it also supports huge groups and one-to-one discussions. The ceiling of each channel is about 200,000 users, which makes it possible to reach more people without compromising confidentiality.
Telegram also has a set of emoticons and GIF search pages to make your conversations come alive. One of its best features is the ability for companies to customize it and add robots. Chatbots can be used with the Messenger API. Finally, Telegram has promised not to curb freedom of speech, but it will certainly take action against channels that provide antisocial food to Telegram users. In addition, you can open and use Telegram on multiple devices at the same time, unlike other messengers.
Signal – Privacy at its best
Messages that disappear! You can set a timer to automatically delete your messages from all phones, the Signal network and its servers. For example, if you set it to 10 minutes, every message you send will be deleted from the servers and your phones after 10 minutes of posting. Normally, Signal users limit it to three to five minutes. In this way, the previous messages are deleted, so that there is no trace of conversation.
Like WhatsApp and Telegram, it also supports emoticons, GIFs and groups. There is no option for broadcasting in Signal right now. But it supports voice calls over the Internet.
Messenger – popular but not acceptable
Other than the now abandoned Google Chat app, people have preferred FB Messenger before WhatsApp catches it. This Messenger application contains many cool features: talk one-on-one, create a group and talk to the group, and send attachments of any type with the help of Messenger. The only problem with Facebook Messenger, is that it belongs to the group "Facebook". In addition, it allows different applications to interact with robots. Some publishers provide news, jokes, etc. on demand, as shown in the picture above.
Conclusion
Although WhatsApp is immensely popular, it has faced security issues. As a result, more and more people are opting for alternatives such as Telegram and Signal. If you are looking for a chat application that respects your security and privacy, the signal or telegram are much better options. Facebook Messenger is a good thing but is not accepted as a medium of discussion due to privacy issues that Facebook is related to. For these reasons, people leave Facebook networks such as Messenger and WhatsApp.
If you think I have not omitted any features in the post, please comment.