As one of the most widely used apps worldwide, WhatsApp is highly accessible and is a simple app to use. For years now, WhatsApp has been known as a versatile messaging app that offers features like text messages, picture and video sharing, free voice, video calls, and UPI payments.
However, it should be noted that WhatsApp may not suit everyone’s needs. Consequently, many advanced IT practitioners are looking for alternatives to WhatsApp which can mimic the use case of WhatsApp. This comes especially after WhatsApp’s privacy policy owned by Meta which explicitly outlines the company’s method of data collection.
Users especially those who care about their data security and transparency are worried about this decision. In this article, we have compiled some of the best substitutes for WhatsApp. These alternatives not only imitate the core functions of WhatsApp but also provide significant improvements, better user experiences, and additional benefits.
Also Read: New WhatsApp Features You Must Know
Top Whatsapp Alternative Apps
Here are some of the Whatsapp alternatives that you can try:
Signal
Signal is one of the preferred WhatsApp alternatives that focuses highly on the privacy and security of the users. The privacy feature of the Signal app makes it a major selling point for users. Its end-to-end encryption feature ensures that your chats remain safe and secure likewise WhatsApp. This means, that whenever you text, call in voice or video format, or share multimedia files and documents, be certain that your data is secure and protected.
Only you and the person with whom are talking can read or listen to your texts or voice notes due to its end-to-end encryption. Signal also offers backups for chats, calls, and group calls with high encryption. While Signal may not provide you with the automatic backup option, it will give you an export feature that will enable the manual backing up of personal information.
Telegram
Telegram has a bunch of unique features that make Telegram’s instant messaging service one of the preferred Whatsapp alternatives. Features like end-to-end encryption make this one of the most secure apps out there. This makes sure that the messages that you send are encrypted and can’t be read by anyone, even Telegram can’t decode your messages.
Telegram’s other impressive feature is guaranteed no doubt its group chats. Note that this group chat can have a maximum of 200,000 users while the limit for Whatsapp is 1024.
Telegram app is completely cloud-based, which makes it migrating chats to any other device a breeze. You can simply log in to any other device and all your chats and media are immediately visible. Unlike Whatsapp which requires manually creating a backup and then restoring the backup. Plus you can’t use WhatsApp simultaneously on two different devices, but Telegram can. The best part of Telegram is, that it is entirely free and open-source, making it accessible to a wide range of users on different platforms, including iOS, Android, and even web.
Telegram also features a secure chat feature known as “secret chat” mode using which the message will have a self-destruct timer and the message will automatically get deleted when the timer is complete. This feature comes in handy when you are trying to send confidential data to any user. Also, messages and content sent in secret chats can’t be copied or forwarded, and if the sender deletes a message, it also disappears from the recipient’s device.
Apple iMessage and Messages by Google
When it comes to choosing a more simplistic and effective alternative to WhatsApp for iPhone and Mac users, iMessage appears as a perfect choice, especially if you are connecting with other iPhone users. Under certain circumstances, it might be appropriate to use iMessage when you are dealing with fellow iPhone owners since it allows seamless communication.
Besides communicating through iMessage, there is nothing else that can stop you from sending old-school text messages to anyone who has a phone number even if they lack using iMessage. Nonetheless, it is important to know that, in case you send a message to an Android device; iMessage switches back to the old SMS method as opposed to the advancing RCS which is used by Google Messages because Apple has declined to support it.
This implies that while your Apple-based messages are secure, those sent among Android users may not enjoy similar security measures. Comparing features of popular messaging apps such as image support, GIFs support, etc., one can say that in terms of features, iMessaging is comparable with these other ones since an image speaks for itself.
Google’s RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging technology makes it easier for us to send messages between devices. It’s a safe messaging platform because it guarantees encryption for all your communications. It is possible that RCS could be considered a more flexible communication option due to its ability to convey more information than standard SMSs do.
With Google Messages, you have a variety of user-friendly features that involve smart replies for saving your time, stickers and GIFs collection for more fun, suggested actions to make your messaging smoother, and seamless integration with Gboard for easy typing. One great advantage of using RCS through Google Messages is the automatic end-to-end encryption. This means that when you are chatting with other users who use the same app, your messages will remain private and secure.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a messaging app that is quite easy to use and with its simple user interface, it is quite popular amongst youngsters. The app focuses more on sharing media content including self disappearing images and videos. But apart from that you can even communicate using text and use personalized emojis and other traditional text messaging features.
The app mainly focuses on visual content and using AI tools to enhance your photos using filters. To make things further, Snapchat also uses AI tools to deliver AR experiences that enable real-time filters on your face. For example, you can have an AR filter can put a beard on your face in real time and you can easily shoot a video with that filter on and even click pictures. This makes Snapchat a fun communication app and is one of the superior alternatives to WhatsApp. And to be sure the chats are totally encrypted and you can use the app without worrying about privacy.
Wire
Wire app might not the as popular as the above-mentioned apps but the app offers a unique combination of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and a user-friendly interface. Having a limited set of user base could actually be an advantage as with fewer users you get away from the distractions that you have on WhatsApp with having hundreds of messages via personal messages and group chats.
But Wire app’s main focus is delivering tap-proof phone calls that are totally secure. This feature is at the same level as encrypted messages that we have with Signal and Telegram app. This makes Wire one of the most secure apps for calling.
Also Read: WhatsApp Hacks And Tricks You Must Know
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