Communication has always been an integral part of our society. Whether it is our family, friends, or relatives we like to talk to sort everything out. With time came new trends of communication. Phone calls, messaging, video calls are part of these new trends. Worldwide people are engaged in using different applications for chatting and for transferring of media and data. In February 2014, we were introduced with a much-awaited invention-“ Whatsapp”. Since then Whatsapp is creating history in terms of development. The service is one of the most popular mobile apps worldwide. Recently Whatsapp announced more than 1.5 billion monthly active users with 30 billion messages per day. Is it not amazing?
But with a high rate of popularity and growth, privacy concerns also come into play. Many privacy vulnerabilities issues came into light. Because of these vulnerabilities millions of WhatsApp users were left exposed to security problems.
Having two-step verification and an automatic end to end encryption has not stopped the threats that come along with WhatsApp. If you are a very private person, then this may lead you to confusion. Well, different people with different opinions because of which there was a lot of chaos among people as to which app they should rely upon. The relationship between Facebook and WhatsApp created a shadow of doubt among many WhatsApp users.
‘The Guardian’ published the story claiming that WhatsApp’s implementation of encryption protocol could be exploited. Although many critics argued with The Guardian still WhatsApp was under the fire. After this statement by The guardian people came up with their threats theory related to WhatsApp- web malware- malicious software used by cybercriminals to infect the workstation we work on. Unencrypted Backups- the backups created on WhatsApp are unencrypted i.e. they are in a simple language which can be read by anybody., which means anybody can read it and hijack our privacy. Encryption vulnerabilities- at times encryption is not done and somebody has full authority on what we send and receive. So to overcome these threats many users tried these best alternatives which are secure and Encrypted messaging apps for Android and iOS. These secure Whatsapp Alternative apps are as follows:
Best secure Whatsapp Alternative apps
1. Signal messenger:
The initial release of this encrypted communication app was on July 29, 2014. It was developed by open whisper systems. Finally in 2018 signal messenger was launched.
The signal is an open source app and secure alternative to WhatsApp. In respect to the WhatsApp features – both WhatsApp as well as signal support end to end encryption, but the signal does not save anything it doesn’t have to, unlike WhatsApp.
Also, a special feature of self-destruction is implemented in the signal, which deletes the messages after a set amount of time. Also because of the relationship between Facebook and WhatsApp security of private chats becomes a major issue and is still worth noting.
Signal messenger is a user-friendly app and is best for privacy. Signal messenger is among the most secure messaging apps. Available for Android and iOS.
2. Telegram:
My personal favourite and secure WhatsApp alternative app! Founded by a Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, is a cloud-based instant messaging app. Telegram is not too far behind WhatsApp. It does not give access to your data to any third party. A telegram has some unique features which WhatsApp does not have.
Telegram provides multiple languages messaging. German, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese are the main languages which WhatsApp does not have. Coming to sending large files, telegram gets the upper hand. With WhatsApp, you can only send files that are 16MB, but telegram allows you to send files to 1.5GB.
For the people who love watching English web series, the telegram is the place you should land on. From Vikings to 13 Reasons telegram has everything you need. The telegram has gained much popularity in the coming time and is no lesser than any other app. Available for Android and iOS.
3. Wire:
An Open source alternative to Whatsapp available for both Android and iOS. The wire is another excellent messaging app. The wire is cross-platform for the encrypted instant messaging app created by Wire Swiss. Its initial release was on 3rd December 2014. Janus Friis is backing the project.
UI and experience are fantastic and very appealing than any other app. In this instant messaging app, group calling and screen sharing are possible
4. Viber Messenger:
Viber has a unique security feature; it uses a colour-coded system to show how a conversation between two users has been protected. Different colour denotes different encryption.
Grey signifies basic encryption, green signifies encrypted communication with trusted contacts and red means there is an issue with the secure authentication key.
Viber has a unique feature having HD quality options for users with high bandwidth connections. Apart from these security concerns, Viber provides public chats which help you connect with public accounts from many places- companies and groups, play games- which is fun. Available for Android and iOS.
5. Dust:
Don’t go with the name; the dust has been designed to clear the actual dust of privacy threats. It is built with complete security in mind.
The conversations are heavily coded with no place of the vulnerability of any kind. Cyber dust also disables the possibility of taking screenshots of the messages.
It detects and notifies the recipient about the screenshot. Not just some attractive, colourful stickers dust has other benefits too. The messaging speed of Dust is more for dust as compared to WhatsApp. Try dust and share your experience if WhatsApp is still the hero or not. Available for Android and iOS.
6. Silence:
A plane, simple messaging app which as simple as normal messaging, but with high end to end encryption. It free and open source WhatsApp alternative.
Users not having silence installed in their smartphones can also have full right to have a conversation with high security and encryption. This is a remarkable app for safety. It is like a regular SMS application. In addition to this, it requires no server or internet connection on your phone.
It enables the user to verify that its code is free for every flaw and vulnerabilities. It is only available for Android phones.
Whatsapp, however, has gained so much popularity which cannot be ignored. These are just the alternatives of WhatsApp for people having significant concerns for their privacy. There is no harm in trying something new and unique. Try your luck by using these applications.
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I’m not sure if Signal is such a good app for it. I’m a little freak for my privacy and I have found, that the police have no problems with reading your past messages in Whatsapp or Signal.
Just look at the documentary from BBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlB0THqEQjw
Point is, if a encrypted app is free, they have to somehow earn their money. Give some info about you, sell the sizes of your conversations.
What is the title of the BBC video since the link is dead ?
“…even a kick in your balls can cost you your wallet.”
That made my day, thx.
Two amazing alternatives are LINE and KakaoTalk Messenger. Both are free and have amazing features that make communicating with my friends and family members easier and a lot more fun.
I personally suggest telegram app, which is more like WhatsApp and has many features in it.