WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal – All You Need to Know!

Remember the night of 4th October 2021, when WhatsApp suddenly stopped working, and for a long time, you believed it was your phone? In fact, some of us were even part of that “smart lot” that deleted WhatsApp before reinstalling it and subsequently realizing we had lost all of our data. With the new Whatsapp policies in May 2021, selecting the “right messaging app” became a hot topic.

In today’s technology-driven world, there are a lot of online messaging apps available, and choosing the best one out of these is quite a challenging task. So, we have compiled a list of considerations that you may use to make your definitive selection;

Privacy:

Do you agree that we all despise it when a random stranger listens in on our conversations with someone we’re talking to? Isn’t it exacerbating? Similarly, if you’re conversing via online platforms, you don’t want anybody else getting into the specifics of your chat. Keeping this in mind, we’ll look at the privacy policies of the three applications.

1. WhatsApp

WhatsApp Messenger guarantees its customers end-to-end encrypted communication, which means that no third party can read the chat between two devices. They give us an E2E regardless of whether the conversation is by direct messaging, group chat, or direct call. However, this does not exclude the servers from collecting our meta-data, which includes our location, data transferred, IP address, and other information. Despite the fact that WhatsApp offers data security, it takes no liability for data that is backed up on the cloud or drive. According to a recent survey, WhatsApp servers do keep track of who we are messaging and the duration of the discussion. 

Considering the recent example whereby chats were posted to Google, WhatsApp faced criticism and was reprimanded by a lot of tech-savvy individuals who value their privacy above everything else, but the problem was quickly addressed. Time and again, WhatsApp has been hacked, and its servers have been accessed using unethical techniques in order to acquire data. Jeff Bezos has been a victim of the hacking, but after which WhatsApp had put in extra efforts to fix the glitch wherein one could access your phone through GIFs. WhatsApp has recently added a two-step verification process and an end-to-end encryption option to its users.

2. Telegram 

Telegram, which is based on the concept of community building, is frequently used to link bigger groups all over the world. Because the app does not provide default end-to-end encrypted conversations, the user must rely on the secret chats functionality. Because this messenger employs client-server encryption, they have the authority to encrypt users’ data on their server. Telegram guarantees the security of its users’ data and requires individuals to follow an appropriate legal procedure in order to access information from its servers. When it comes to hacking the Telegram server, it has had similar experiences to those of WhatsApp. The last time Telegram was hacked was during the 2019 Hong Kong Protests, but the company cleared out the false facts given by the reporters and immediately encrypted its server’s privacy

3. Signal 

Signal, which is now regarded as the safest instant messaging software, takes conversation encryption very seriously. It generates a unique code for each discussion with a user’s contacts and allows the user to check the encryption and safety of their chats. This platform is used by several news agencies to contact their reporters and undercover sources. Signal just introduced a new feature called Sealed sender. Even the server does not record the sender and receiver’s identities with this functionality. In terms of Signal being hacked, there has never been a verifiable report of the occurrence. 

Features:

When downloading an app, its features play a very vital role, therefore, making it important to understand which app offers the best options for us.

1. WhatsApp

WhatsApp, the most popular messaging software in terms of users and downloads, has a plethora of functions. It is one of the simplest applications to use, allowing users to share any type of data, including media and documents. Although the video size is limited, lengthy films can be shared in different settings. It now allows users to transfer money and provides a separate option for business accounts. WhatsApp supports a group conversation of up to 256 individuals and the ability to change your last seen and read receipt. WhatsApp also has a large selection of emoticons, GIFs, and stickers.

2. Telegram

The app offers a free service for text and audio messaging, video, and voice conversations. Telegram may also be used to exchange documents and locations, with files up to 2GB in size. One of Telegram’s primary characteristics is that the sender may alter the content even after it has been sent. Moreover, one may erase a message without receiving the indication “This message was deleted.” On a single device, an individual can easily have many accounts linked to the same phone number. And group conversations can have up to 200,000 participants.

3. Signal 

Just like WhatsApp and Telegram, Signal also offers the facilities to send Text messages, media, documents, location, and video/voice calls, wherein the maximum capacity to share media is 300KB. Unique features of the app include a note to self and message reaction. With Signal’s message reaction, you can simply tap on a text to respond with an emoticon. The note to self feature reduces the load of yet another app on our phone, and that is “my notes.” Who would need that left-out application when your messaging app solves both purposes. Signal also has a feature of disappearing image but along with it offer an option of disappearing text, that can be extended up to 5-7 seconds.

In this article, we have jotted down the key features of these apps that you should consider before making your choice. Let us know in the comment section which app you use and how it is better than the others.