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0
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Snapchat
All
6
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Con
Security concerns
In 2013, Snapchat was hacked. As a result phone numbers and usernames of 4.6 million users were published online. That happened after concerns were raised by a security firm weeks before that Snapchat dismissed. Other security concerns were pointed out to Snapchat throughout 2014 including ways that the service could be used for DDOS attacks and how their anti-robot measures can be circumvented. Snapchat has since implemented two-factor authentication.
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Top
Pro
Allows sharing photos, videos and texts that self-destruct
All Snapchat communications disappear after they've been viewed. It creates more interesting conversation when you don't have to worry about consequences as much. Additionally you can doodle on photos.
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Top
Con
Non-intuitive UI
The UI space is well used but you'll likely miss a few messages until you understand of the UI works; it's not like the average mobile apps.
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Top
Pro
Includes news
Snapchat includes a Discover page (accessed by two swipes from the right side) where curated list of news and entertainment outlets can put up news from their sites.
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Top
Pro
Does not get in the way of what it's designed to do
Snapchat is first and foremost a way to share photos so the first thing that the app presents the user with is the camera enabled and ready to take photos. Once photos or videos are taken, it's possible to caption them or draw on them.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS
Publisher:
Snapchat Inc
File Size:
17M
Required Android Version:
4.0 and up
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14
11
Bolt
All
5
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
One tap photo and video sharing
Tap a contact to take a picture, tap and hold a contact to record video. Tapping the screen will allow you to add text to photos and videos just taken.
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Top
Con
Only available in select countries
Bolt is limited to New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa.
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Top
Pro
One-to-one conversations increase chance of feedback
Limiting conversations to only two parties increases the likelihood of getting a response.
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Top
Con
No groups
Bolt only allows one-to-one communications.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS
Publisher:
Instagram
File Size:
2.3M
Required Android Version:
4.0 and up
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1
1
Taptalk
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Lacks advanced functionality that could get in the way of sharing
Taptalk lacks any additional features and choices that could take away from sending a photo as fast as possible. There's no preview screen that asks to reconfirm sending a message or choosing a filter. As soon as the photo or video is taken, it's sent.
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Top
Con
No groups
Taptalk only allows one-to-one communications.
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Top
Pro
Offers a very quick way of sharing photos and videos
Tap a contact to take a picture, tap and hold a contact to record video. Tapping the screen will allow you to add text to photos and videos just taken. The whole interface consists of a single screen.
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Top
Pro
One-to-one conversations increase chance of feedback
Limiting conversations to only two parties increases the likelihood of getting a response.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS
Publisher:
Wit Dot Media Inc
File Size:
5.9M
Required Android Version:
4.0.3 and up
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2
0
Vine Messages
All
6
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Can communicate outside of Vine
You can send messages to people outside of Vine.
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Top
Con
Can't share images or videos from camera roll
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Top
Pro
Video tools
Vine can capture a video for you and has a grid to help line up shots.
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Top
Con
No group messaging
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Top
Pro
Video messages
Videos can be up to six seconds long.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS / WP
Publisher:
Vine Labs
File Size:
Varies with device
Required Android Version:
Varies with device
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2
0
GroupMe
All
8
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Reads receipts
GroupMe has a built in function to read receipts.
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Top
Con
Drains battery fast
GroupMe, in order to have a constant connection which allows for notifications drains the battery of a device quickly, which is not ideal for a messaging app that one needs on time notifications from.
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Top
Pro
Great web client
GroupMe has an excellent web client that can be used to send and receive messages and manage groups from the desktop.
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Top
Pro
IFTTT Integration
Allows sending messages from web services via IFTTT.
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Top
Pro
Integrated calendar
It's possible to add location and time with reminders directly in the GroupMe app.
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Top
Pro
Makes it easy to silence 1 or all groups
GroupMe has settings that allow muting a single group or turn off all GroupMe notifications from within the app.
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Top
Pro
Does not require everyone in the group to have a smartphone
GroupMe can set up a custom phone number which allows people without the App to send and receive messages. This makes it easy to add anyone to messaging.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android iOS WP
Publisher:
groupme
File Size:
Varies with device
Required Android Version:
Varies with device
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Experiences
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7
1
StealthChat
All
8
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Con
Many people have difficulty registering the app
Multiple people have reported not being able to receive the activation code required to register the app.
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Top
Pro
Can send self-destructing messages
Messages can be set to self-destruct after a set time.
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Top
Con
Code is not verified
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Top
Pro
Offers 3 types of encryption
The app claims to be the only communication app that encrypts data in transit, on disk and on screen. Encryption in transit is used to make sure no-one can listen in on your conversations even if the traffic is going through their servers, encryption on disk is used to make sure that even if someone gets ahold of your phone and is capable of extracting your messages from it they won't be able to read them and screen encryption is essentially a lock screen that sets in after a set amount of time used to make prevent "shoulder surfing".
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Top
Con
Poor support
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Top
Con
Lacks group chat
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Top
Con
Closed source
No way to verify security practices.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS
Required Android Version:
4.0
End-to-end encryption:
Yes
Audio recording:
Yes
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Experiences
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20
3
Mirage
All
7
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Includes filters
It's possible to change the look of images and videos via filters.
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Top
Con
Buggy
Messages get lost users have trouble getting their codes to log in and has trouble actually finding the users contacts.
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Top
Pro
Groups
It's possible to send messages to multiple people at once. Either by setting up a group or by selecting a bunch of people individually. Groups can also be muted if they get too noisy.
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Top
Pro
Messages self-destruct after they've been viewed
Once a message has been viewed, it gets deleted from Snapchat's servers. Thus, unless a person chooses to save the message manually (a notification will be sent if a user decides to take a screenshot), there will be no trace of it left. It enables a bit more consequence-free, in-the-moment kind of communication to occur.
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Top
Pro
Generates a contact list
Once the account setup process is complete, Mirage generates a list of people from your contacts that you are most likely interested in sending messages via Mirage.
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Top
Pro
Interface designed for getting things done quickly
Tap a contact to take a picture, tap and hold a contact to record video. Tapping the screen will allow you to add text to photos and videos just taken. Swiping the screen changes what camera is used. Swiping from the side allows sending text and voice messages. Voice messages are recorded the same way videos are by tapping and holding on a contact just from a different view.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS
Publisher:
mobli
File Size:
7.7M
Required Android Version:
4.0 and up
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1
0
Element (formerly Riot)
All
16
Experiences
Pros
15
Specs
Top
Pro
Bridges to other networks
You're not confined within Element's or even Matrix garden, and you don't have to make users of other networks switch to Matrix.
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Top
Pro
Markdown support
Code snippets in chats can be highlighted with Markdown.
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Top
Pro
Simple interface
Element has a very simple interface, adding the ability for more inexperienced users to use it.
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Top
Pro
VOIP and Videoconferencing
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Top
Pro
Supports encryption
Element allows for fully encrypted text, voice, and video chatting.
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Top
Pro
Widgets support
Want to watch that flick at YouTube and discuss it at the same time? Have Grafana graphs stacked above your DevOps team chat? Collaboratively edit Google Docs and chat over without switching applications? This is possible with Element.
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Top
Pro
Decentralized
An open network for secure, decentralized communication.
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Top
Pro
Self-hosting and federated network
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Top
Pro
Libre/open source
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Top
Pro
Search
Search messages in your current room, or all the rooms you're in. Not subject to a message history limit like Slack.
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Top
Pro
Cross platform
Web browser Linux OS X Windows Android iOS
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Top
Pro
Large existing community
With public rooms for many people, and you can create your own and let people from the community join.
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Top
Pro
Etherpad real-time document collaboration
An easy to activate integration that allows multiple authors to edit a document simultaneously.
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Top
Pro
File Sharing
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Top
Pro
Supports text, voice, video
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Specs
Platforms:
MacOS, Windows, Linux, Android, Browser, iOS
License:
Apache License 2.0
Publisher:
New Vector Ltd
End-to-end encryption:
Yes (optional)
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Experiences
Free
792
103
Threema
All
13
Experiences
Pros
9
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
Registration without phone number
Registration is handled by random generated IDs. No phone number needed.
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Top
Con
Not free
Unlike many other options Threema is not free as it costs $1.99 for the app.
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Top
Pro
Encrypted communication
Provides complete end-to-end encryption.
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Top
Con
Single device only
You cannot use multiple devices to send messages. However, it does have message mirroring on a web client.
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Top
Pro
Company behind Threema is based in Switzerland
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Top
Con
No cloud sync
E2E encryption means no cloud syncing of messages.
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Top
Pro
Servers in Switzerland
Privacy laws protect the data Threema has.
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Top
Pro
Supports encrypted group chats
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Top
Pro
Provides a web client
You can control and message with friends via Threema Web, the official web client for Threema.
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Top
Pro
Ability to send pics and videos
Threema supports sending media messages such as video, pics and even voice messages.
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Top
Pro
Group chat polls
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Top
Pro
Allows verification of contacts identity via QR Code
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS / WP
Publisher:
Threema GmbH
File Size:
15M
Required Android Version:
4.0 and up
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Experiences
$1.99
62
20
Line
All
6
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Large celebrity and public figure usage rate
The caveat is that they are in Japan, but the app is commonly used to 'follow' public figures.
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Top
Con
Account is locked to the Phone Number & Device
The entire account is locked to the phone number, which cannot be changed. If the application is installed on a new device with the same phone number, the previous account data will be wiped.
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Top
Pro
Enormous, constantly updated stamp collection
Since many brands use stamps for promotional purposes, everything from movies to food brands to Taylor Swift have released stamp collections.
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Top
Con
Users have been concentrated in Japan
Of the 360+ million registered users, the top country is Japan (50 million). Thailand and Indonesia are 2nd and 3rd with 33 and 30 million, respectively, with very small market penetration in the US (10 million, 11th place).
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Top
Pro
Photo filter and editing capabilities
Users have in-app editing tools, as well as Line's separate camera application, which has additional tools.
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Top
Pro
Integrated social network
Similar to Facebook's timeline.
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23
9
Wickr
All
9
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Doesn't require a phone number
Unlike most, you can use your phone but you don't have to. You can register without giving anything and add contacts either via e-mail (only) or phone number.
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Top
Con
Partially Open source
.
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Top
Pro
Content shredder
Wickr has a feature that not only erases all messages, but also overwrites them with junk data.
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Top
Con
Small user base
Wickr claims that one million users have downloaded the app with no information on how many active users they have. But even if every person that has downloaded the app is an active user, the userbase is really small compared to apps like WhatsApp that boast about hundreds of millions of active users.
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Top
Pro
Can find other users securely
Instead of using usernames, emails or phone numbers to find other users, Wickr uses hashes derived from phone numbers or email addresses (this applies to the find friends functionality only). Hashes are the result of a one-way cryptographic function, meaning it's purposefully difficult to reconstruct original data (phone numbers and email addresses in this case) from them. For Wickr, hashes are generated on the client's side so that no personal information is ever sent to the Wickr servers. The app finds people on your contact list that also use Wickr by comparing the hashes that get generated from contacts and comparing them to the hashes that are stored on Wickr servers.
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Top
Pro
Group messaging
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Top
Pro
Messages have user-defined lifespan
Messages can have a lifespan between 3 seconds and 6 days. Received messages arrive locked. Once they are opened by the recipient, a timer starts counting down until the message is deleted. Of course, the recipient can still copy them or take a screenshot.
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Top
Pro
By default, doesn't allow taking screenshots
Wickr disables the screenshot functionality altogether when the app is open. However, there are ways to circumvent this, as if the user has a rooted phone and has installed apps to overide this block or if a screenshot is taken via some apps that project the screen to a PC.
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Top
Pro
Includes a basic photo editor
The editor allows cropping images, drawing and writing text on them as well as add decorations.
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Experiences
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72
25
Telegram
All
37
Experiences
Pros
28
Cons
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Free and convenient large file sharing
Copy/paste videos, gifs, images, geolocation, documents, and even executable files. Drag over files for practically any time up to 2GB in size. Images can be compressed, too.
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Top
Con
Not fully open source
Telegram has an open API and protocol free for everyone, but the backend software is not open source. Therefore 100% privacy can not be evaluated.
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Top
Pro
Free of cost
The application is available free of cost.
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Top
Con
Can only be used with a phone number
It is not possible to activate and use Telegram by mail etc. You need a phone number.
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Top
Pro
Privacy focused
In addition to the end-to-end encryption [only in secret chats] that provides privacy to communications, the app also includes self destructing timers for chats, and the ability to permanently delete messages, yours and theirs, from your and their devices.
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Top
Con
Only "Secret Chat" messages are encrypted end to end
The only way to get end-to-end encryption (client-client) using Telegram is to use the Secret Chat function, anything through the service is server-client encrypted. Also secret chat is only implemented in the mobile apps, meaning there is no way to encrypt messages end-to-end when using the desktop client or the web browser client.
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Top
Pro
Media messaging
Videos, gifs, images, geolocation, and documents.
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Top
Con
"Secret Chat" feature is not available for desktop client
Secret chats with end to end encryption are only available on mobile apps.
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Top
Pro
Channels for one way broadcasting
Broadcasting channels suitable for announcing things.
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Top
Con
No source code sintax highlighting
Telegram does not have source code syntax highlighting, making it difficult to share code snippets.
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Top
Pro
Beautiful UI
Very customizable with a lot of clean looking options.
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Top
Con
Does not work for visually impaired
Doesn't work for visually impaired.
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Top
Pro
Possible to send photos and videos without compression
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Top
Con
Does not support spherical 360° photos
Spherical 360° photos becoming more popular these days, but Telegram does not support such format.
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Top
Pro
Supergroups of up to 200,000 people
In Supergroups, anyone along with admins can delete their messages from all sides. A message can be pinned to the top. All of the user's messages can be deleted by an administrator, and they can be banned and reported as well. Supergroups can have a public link (outside of Asia, due to high spam volumes), which is also a username.
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Top
Con
Does not support text messaging
You can NOT make it your default text messaging App.
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Top
Pro
Two-step verification
You can set up an additional password to your account, which can be reset by your email. You don't have to use an email if you do not want to. If you lose access to your email or forget your password, you will be able to reset it via text message if your account is over seven days old and will receive it within a week (in case you recover anything before then).
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Top
Pro
Secure
Telegram uses an open source MTProto encryption protocol that provides complete end-to-end encryption for secret chats. To show off their confidence in the protocol the company behind Telegram has organized $200,000 and $300,000 challenges to break the encryption. So far there have been no winners.
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Top
Pro
Saved messages
You can write messages to yourself. You can write some notes, add links, and see everything across all your devices.
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Top
Pro
Cloud chat keys are kept in different jurisdiction
Even though encryption used for cloud-based storage (e.g. Gmail, Facebook, iCloud) may not be as secure as end-to-end encryption or zero-knowledge storage, Telegram does the most that it can by holding keys to chats in different jurisdictions, requiring intergovernmental cooperation to obtain the keys. This is aside from whatever other security measures have been taken, of course.
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Top
Pro
Multiplatform native client apps
There are native desktop, mobile and web client apps, that are optimized for speed and are light on memory usage.
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Top
Pro
Open source client apps
Client apps are open source, making whole service more trustworthy.
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Pro
Unlimited storage
Unlimited number of files can be stored forever on the cloud. You can upload files up to 1.5 GB each.
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Top
Pro
Voice and video messages
You can post voice and video messages if you are too lazy to write text messages.
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Top
Pro
Group Voice Chat
This Discord-like feature adds to the interactivity of the application.
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Top
Pro
Pinned Messages
You can pin messages to the top of groups or supergroups so members will see them when opening the group.
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Top
Pro
Self-destruct messages
Messages in individual chats can be set to self destruct on a timer. They will disappear after the timer expires. Messages in all new chats can be set to self-destruct with a global auto-delete timer in Settings > Privacy and Security > Auto-Delete Messages.
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Top
Pro
Edit or delete messages after sending them
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Top
Pro
Banned in China
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Top
Pro
Save time with inline bots and link previews
Unfortunately, on the desktop videos don't play, but images are viewable without visiting popular websites like imgur and Instagram. You can play YouTube videos and others within the app, so you don't need to embed code or anything. With inline bots, such as @gif, @pic/bing, @vid/YouTube, etc, you can look things up without leaving the client or chat that you're in. Simply type the name and some keywords and wait for the results to load.
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Top
Pro
@mentions
You can ping people to get their attention by @mentioning them.
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Top
Pro
Desktop app handles HiDPI
The desktop app has a built in setting to scale the UI of the app up to 200% which allows for those with 4k monitors/screens to use the app without scaling issues.
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Top
Pro
High quality calls
Uses the latest GPL audio codecs, such as Opus, an adaptative high-quality codec that supersedes AAC at any bitrate.
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Top
Pro
Customer support is within the app
Although it's volunteer based, but still pretty top-notch if available, which it tends to be.
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Top
Pro
Large groups can have channels called 'Topics'
Topics are now available in groups of 100+ members and have a sleek two-column layout and new buttons to quickly navigate. A default topic called General is now in every topic group, holding the group’s service messages and previous message history.
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Top
Pro
Popular in the USA
On SimilarWeb you can see that Telegram is on the top 15 among all communication apps.
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Specs
Platforms:
Web, Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, BSD, Windows phone, UWP
Publisher:
Various companies affiliated with Telegram
File Size:
2048 MB
End-to-end encryption:
Secret chats
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1185
282
Signal
All
16
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
Provides security and privacy
Signal uses an advanced end to end encryption protocol that provides privacy for every message every time.
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Top
Con
Needs access to your phone number and contacts to work
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Top
Pro
Free and open source
Signal is free and open source software, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. It's the only private messenger that uses open source, peer-reviewed cryptographic protocols to keep your messages safe.
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Top
Con
Single device
Signal can only be registered to one mobile device at a time. But you can link Signal to Signal Desktop.
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Top
Pro
Supports encrypted group chats
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Top
Con
Servers hosted in the US
A security risk due to National Security letters, which require giving up data to the US state, and making it illegal to disclose that.
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Top
Pro
Has a desktop app
Signal Desktop can be used on multiple devices and has most features of the Android version, although it still requires you to register with your phone.
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Top
Con
Unreliable notifications
Sometimes messages won't be received if the Signal app has been closed for a long time or hasn't been opened after booting the device.
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Top
Pro
Supports sharing of various different media types
Signal supports: emoji, pictures, videos, audio, contacts, any location and GIF.
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Top
Con
Poor support
Their E-mail adress for support are not working. They have a Community support on here. Sometimes if you need a support, you need to create an account on their forum and need to share a topic and wait for long time.
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Top
Pro
Note to Self feature
Allows you to "send: messages to yourself and sync to desktop so you can use Signal as a kind of encrypted Pushbullet alternative
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Top
Pro
You can easily view all media exchanged
You can easily view all media shared in the chat without scrolling back to when it was shared.
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Top
Pro
Annonymous Sender (Encrypted)
The sender credentials can be encrypted with the rest of the message, leaving only the recipient address readable by the Signal server. Even if Signal wanted they couldn't see who is talking with who by this mean.
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Top
Pro
Works everywhere in every country
Unlike most messenger apps, Signal works reliably in all countries by securely circumventing internet censorship.
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Top
Pro
Recommended by Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden uses this messenger and recommends it to everyone who is concerned about his privacy.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X
Publisher:
Open Whisper Systems
End-to-end encryption:
Yes
Media:
images / audio / video / files / contacts / GIFs / location
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Experiences
Free
687
181
Discord
All
32
Experiences
Pros
22
Cons
9
Specs
Top
Pro
User friendly
Discord follows the same type of interface design popularised by Slack, which is extremely clean and attractive, and doesn't clutter the interface with unnecessary chrome and cruft.
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Top
Con
Proprietary software
Discord is closed-source, meaning their code isn't available for inspection or reproduction
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Top
Pro
Free for unlimited users
Unlimited amount of users.
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Top
Con
Based on Electron = eats a lot of ram
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Top
Pro
Can be used in browser
Users can invite others to join a Discord channel via a web link, which means no installation is required to use the software - which is one of the big typical barriers to entry for social software.
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Top
Con
Some functions cut out and available only with "Nitro" subscription
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Top
Pro
Good 1-click invite system
Discord allows inviting people to a specific channel with a link. Links can be set to expire. Low effort/passive invite mechanics.
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Top
Con
Developer's previous company was sued for privacy violations, among other things
See: http://classactionlawsuitsinthenews.com/class-action-lawsuit-complaints/openfeint-green-international-privacy-class-action-lawsuit-complaint/ https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/closing-letters/openfeint-inc Discord's privacy policy also states that while they might not sell your data, a company they get sold to will quite possibly attain said data and thus may be in "more" shady hands.
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Top
Pro
Easy setup
You can quickly send invites to people and they can join in using the web client without having to create an account or install the app.
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Top
Con
No self-hosting avaliable
Discord is wholly hosted by Discord (the company), you cannot run private instances, and all servers are hosted on their infrastructure. For most people, this won't really impact their usage.
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Top
Pro
Has low-latency VoIP support
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Top
Con
Not a generic "team chat" tool
All the UI and the features are aimed specifically at communicating with your gaming team/clan.
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Top
Pro
Supports video and text communication
Behaves and looks like Slack for regular text channels, but with the ability to create voice channels as well
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Top
Con
Very unstable on Linux
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Top
Pro
Numerous controls for setting member roles.
Deny access, Deny write message, Allow read messages etc.
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Top
Con
Anti-privacy license terms
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Top
Pro
Ability to create bots
Discord provides an API for creating custom bots.
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Top
Con
Can change "Now Playing" status to something inappropriate
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Top
Pro
Open source bots and management tools
Discord has a wide variety of bots for things from airhorn noises to automated server management, to leveling systems for chat. The bot API is open and there are dedicated sites for finding bots.
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Top
Pro
Game integration
Discord shows which game each user is currently playing, which among other things helps users to form PUGs with minimal hassle.
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Top
Pro
Dark theme out of the box
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Pro
Familiar for Slack users
For those that are used to the way Slack (a similar chat client) works, Discord will be familiar in its use, which lowers the learning curve quite a bit for those that have switched or tried Slack before.
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Pro
Low effort invite mechanics
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Pro
Android app has push notifications
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Pro
Syntax highlighting and Markdown support
The support is limited but still exists. It's a killer feature for dev teams.
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Pro
DDoS mitigation
Discord prevents users from being DDoSed out of games.
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Pro
Targeting of roles
Targeting roles allows for quickly requesting someone from a group e.g. artist, moderator, etc.
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Pro
Ability to thread channels
Ability to create channel categories for channels to sit inside of.
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Pro
Friendly payment policy
Free account have no tangible restrictions. Premium account is just a way to say "thank you" to developers. And it work for all servers of discord (not as in slack). And it can be purchased by one who wants. In contrast to Slask, where all active members of the server should be "premium".
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Pro
Language localization
Have localization for many language, including Russian.
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Pro
Does not allow NSFW related things to be posted unless in a NSFW channel
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Specs
Platforms:
Web, Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android
Search:
Yes
Videoconferencing:
Yes
Audio recording:
No
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1446
474
Viber
All
21
Experiences
Pros
14
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Con
The company evades U. S. tax
The company uses the common practice of tax haven addresses in order to avoid paying US taxes despite being registered in Delaware.
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Pro
Desktop apps allow texting, calling and enables transferring calls between devices
Viber has native apps for both Windows and Mac that allow you to send and receive messages from your desktop. You can also use the desktop to make and receive calls. Synchronizes between all devices you are using Viber on. Allows transferring calls between devices.
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Con
Proprietary Software
Not Open Source.
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Pro
Supports voice calls
Viber has really well implemented voice tech. It has comparable quality to Skype and you can even tranfer calls from your phone to your desktop seamlessly.
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Con
No web client
You cannot login from the web to send and receive messages.
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Pro
Completely free
Viber uses data connection and the app is free.
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Con
Constantly on
Need apps like Greenify to stop it from being constantly on and active, even if you don't use it.
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Pro
Clean interface
The interface is simple, functional and intuitive.
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Con
Constant reminders of messages
If you don't check your messages (say your in a group chat and simply don't check all of them), it will flood your notifications.
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Pro
See who of your contacts is using Viber quickly
Viber is tied to your phone number so it can quickly see who else in your contacts list is using the application.
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Con
Doesn't sync well
Sync awfully between Phone and PC clients.
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Pro
Android Wear support
Viber includes Android Wear support on Android 4.3 or higher and Viber 5.3 or higher.
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Pro
Same protocol as used in Signal
Viber's protocol uses the same concepts of the "double ratchet" protocol used in Open Whisper Systems Signal application.
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Pro
Public chats
It's possible to be a fly on the wall on other group or one-to-one chats that have been opened up to the public. These public chats are often promotional chats with celebrities.
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Pro
Supports video calling over WiFi and data.
Can call friends using voice or video options.
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Pro
Combines cellular and data messaging
This has an advantage in that if you text someone who uses Viber it will be free, if not it will just revert to SMS. This means you can replace your standard messaging app with Viber as well.
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Pro
Keys only on device
Starting with Viber 6.0 the encryption keys are stored only on the clients themselves, not even Viber itself has access to them.
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Pro
No need to create an account or add contacts
One of the best things about Viber is how it handles setup and sending messages. Viber uses your existing number as your ID, so you don't need to create a separate Viber account.
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Pro
Supports 200 person group chat
Viber allows creating groups of up to 200 people on the Android version of Viber. It also has a cool "smart notifications" feature to prevent being overwhelmed with notifications if a lot of people are active in a chat group.
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Pro
Insight and well documented encryption
Viber has made a documentation available, explaining in great details their encryption system and giving good insight on how it works.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS / WP / BB / Symbian / Windows / OSX / Linux
Publisher:
Viber Media S.a r.l.
File Size:
37M
Required Android Version:
2.3 and up
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129
56
Hangouts
All
29
Experiences
Pros
12
Cons
16
Specs
Top
Con
Transitioning to corporate orientation
Google is turning Hangouts in to a Slack competitor. It's unclear what the future of Hangouts is, but Google has said the consumer Hangouts we now have 'isn't going anywhere.'
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Pro
Save and sync your chats across multiple devices
Start chatting on your phone, then on your computer, then on your tablet seamlessly!
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Con
Lack of end to end encryption
Communications are encrypted between client and Google servers but not from sending client to receiving client. This means that there is still a possibility for someone other than the receiver to read your message if they have access to internal Google servers. But it allows also lightweight chat history search, spam protection and other features.
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Pro
No need to create a separate account if you use any other Google service
Hangouts uses Google account credentials. If you use any other Google service, then you already have an account set up.
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Con
Is owned by Google
Google is a cooperation that earns money from collecting data and breaching privacy.
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Pro
Group video support
If you have signed in your Google account, Hangouts allows making video calls with up to 10 people or one-on-one. There are business, education and government solutions that increase the participant count to for video calls to 15 as well as offers support for those accounts. Additionally, you can switch between using either the front-facing or rear-facing camera on your phone or tablet.
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Con
Poor interface
The app tends to lag, the design can be confusing and considering that another app has to be installed that supplies another icon in the home screen in order to get a dialer for calls in Hangouts, overall it is very confusing and cluttered.
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Pro
Free and cross-platform
Google offers all features of Hangouts completely free on iOS, Android and web with quick and reliable sync across all platforms. It's also tightly integrated in other Google services - it can be accessed from services such as Gmail, Google+, Chrome. While the standard Hangouts offering is completely free, there are business, education and government solutions that increase the participant count to for video calls to 15 and offers support that may cost money.
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Con
No rich text editing
On Android you can receive messages with bold or italic text. However, you cannot bold or italicize text on Android, only on iOS devices or via the web interface.
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Pro
Chrome browser extension
Use the extension on any computer you can run Chrome browser to text from your computer or tablet!
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Con
No way to moderate groups
If a member of a group chat room becomes disruptive, or there's some other need, there's no way in Hangouts to remove somebody from an existing chatroom. Similarly, if somebody is no longer active, there's no way to remove that user from the chat room to make slot for new active members.
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Pro
Excellent read receipts in group chat
It's possible to know what each and every participant of the group has read. Their icons are displayed below the last message.
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Con
Buggy video calls
Whether video calls work on your device is pure lottery, and there's nothing you can do to fix it.
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Pro
Can share animated GIFs
If you have gifs in your mobile phone, you can share them in the conversation and your partner will be able to see it animated in the chat.
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Con
Poor indication of who's online
There is no way to find out if a person in your contact's list is online or not in the Android app.
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Pro
Google Voice integration
Google Voice is a service that enables making and receiving free phone calls within US. Google Voice forwards incoming calls to all connected devices and allows placing calls from any of the connected devices, but they will show as coming from the Google Voice number. Hangouts completely integrates Google Voice, allowing you to place calls and receive texts and voicemail from all of your devices. The Hangouts app for Android also includes a needed dialer for making calls with the users Google Voice number.
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Con
Poorly manages data
Doesn't cache images well either received or sent. Often users will see the sent images re-downloading, same for conversations.
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Pro
Free calls to US and Canada from anywhere in the world
Hangouts app for Android can be extended with an optional dialer for making calls. Most calls to US and Canada are free and international calls have cheap rates. A Google Voice account will be needed in order have a number that allows these calls to be made.
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Con
API support was removed
This change closed options for integrations and connections between similar apps.
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Pro
Advanced status sharing
Hangouts can inform about the status of other users including what device they are currently using, whether they are in the middle of a call and when were they last seen. This allows making sure that you're not disturbing someone when initiating a conversation. It's possible to granularly turn off status sharing.
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Con
Not available on Windows Phones
There is no Hangouts app for the Windows Phone.
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Pro
Video tools
Hangouts can add different effects and overlays to video calls that can be viewed on your device. Unfortunately, they can't be set from your phone.
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Con
Doesn't support sending voice notes or video recordings
Currently there is no built in function that supports creating and sending voice notes or video recordings.
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Pro
Seamless integration with OK Google for voice control and typing
Hangouts can be used completely hands free, even if the app is not open and the phone is locked: "OK Google, send a Hangouts message to Mary".
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Con
No customer support
Free product, you're on your own.
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Con
Won't send SMS/MMS anymore
They removed support for sms/mms. The same goes with integration to hangouts.
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Con
No SMS/MMS backup
They don't have options to backup sms to cloud.
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Con
SMS messages sent from the web app can't be sent outside North America
SMS messages sent from the web app can only be sent to number in America and Canada - sending to foreign numbers won't work, although you can still receive texts from anywhere.
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Specs
Platforms:
Web / iOS / Android / OSX / Chrome
Publisher:
Google Inc
File Size:
Varies with device
Required Android Version:
Varies with device
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Experiences
Free
185
87
WhatsApp
All
15
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Straightforward interface
The interface is very simple, fast and easy to use. You can start using it as soon as the app has been downloaded - it does not require setting anything up or registering. You can communicate with anyone in your contacts list that also uses WhatsApp. Includes useful features like seeing when a contact is currently available or typing.
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Con
Shares meta data with Facebook
WhatsApp shares your messaging meta data with Facebook if you do not opt-out in the settings. If you use the same phone number for WhatsApp and Facebook, the profiles can easily be linked. See https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/26000016
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Pro
Widely used
WhatsApp reported 1.5 billion users in 2018. Your friends are most likely already using WhatsApp, so it's easy to get setup.
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Con
Tied to carrier phone number
WhatsApp cannot be used by people without a smart phone with an active cell plan. If your phone is lost or damaged, or if your phone number changes, you cannot get messages sent by friends without them updating your phone number. You cannot send message to them until you are able to get SMS messages at your phone number.
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Pro
Effortlessly builds your contacts by using your phone number as identification
WhatsApp will automatically find all of your contacts currently using Whatsapp and add them to your contacts. This makes it really easy to setup and given that it's the most popular messaging app it's likely that a lot of your contacts are already using it.
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Con
Proprietary
Not open source.
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Pro
Message mirroring on web app
WhatsApp can be used from the desktop via Chrome, Firefox and Opera browsers. Accessing it requires using the Android app to scan the QR code that's presented on web.whatsapp.com.
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Con
Hard to migrate history cross platform
Migrating your chat history from Android to iOS or the other way around is not so simple. In some cases it requires a 3rd party app and in some the only way is to migrate specific chats one by one.
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Pro
Signal protocol
Whatsapp uses the state-of-the-art Signal protocol that ensure strong end-to-end encryption.
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Con
Web interface uses message mirroring
To use your computer to send messages your phone must be on with a consistent data connection.
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Pro
One-on-one texts can be encrypted
WhatsApp has implemented end to end encryption for messages sent on it's service. Even WhatsApp has no way to read a users messages.
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Con
Single device
You cannot use the same WhatsApp account on multiple devices (e.g. a tablet, a PC and a cellphone). The account is tied to the device with the specific cellphone number. Chat history is deleted when you sign in to a new account, unless you have created a backup.
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Con
No cloud sync
Messages are not stored on WhatsApp server for privacy and security reasons.
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Con
Limitation on shareable file sizes
WhatsApp now allows users to share files of any type, but there is still a 16 MB size limit.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android, iOS, Web, Mac, Windows, Windows Phone
Publisher:
WhatsApp Inc.
File Size:
100 MB
Required Android Version:
2.3.3 or above
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Experiences
Free
228
192
Messenger
All
7
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Con
Lack of privacy
Messenger is owned by Facebook. Based on their privacy policy, this means that any information you provide (including messages sent) are used by Facebook to profile you and sell access to your data to advertisers.
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Pro
Uses Facebook friends to create a contacts list
Allows communicating with anyone who's a friend on Facebook.
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Con
Lack of end-to-end encryption
Secret (end-to-end encrypted) chats are only supported in one-to-one messages, and are not enabled by default, and the encryption has not been verified independently.
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Pro
Read receipts
Can see who has seen each message in group messages.
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Pro
Easy to share posts from Facebook
Integration with Facebook makes it easy to share any interesting posts from the Facebook timeline.
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Pro
Great UI
User interface of the application is clean, intuitive and easy to overview.
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Specs
Platforms:
Android / iOS / WP
Publisher:
Facebook
File Size:
Varies with device
Required Android Version:
Varies with device
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74
64
Skype
All
21
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
10
Specs
Top
Con
Plagued by bugs on all platforms
Crashes and other bugs are prevalent on Android, Windows and other platforms.
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Pro
Easily connect with others due to how popular the service is
There's a good chance that whoever you're trying to reach has Skype already set up and familiar with it, avoiding the hassle of installing and getting to know new software.
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Con
Subpar video quality with more than 5 users
Skype has significant problems with multiple users and video quality. Skype recommends that a max of 5 users group chat as video quality is severely affected. Even webcams tested with other chat services showed lower quality when used with Skype.
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Pro
Screen sharing
You can show your whole desktop, a select part of the screen or a specific window over Skype.
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Con
Not a feasible alternative as a professional team chat
Missing key feature such as centralized mgmt, centralized billing, data retention policies, ...
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Pro
Cross-platform
There's software for Windows, Mac & Linux and apps are available on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.
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Con
Poor quality when screensharing
It is not possible to manually set resolution or bitrate, and Skype often defaults to a resolution so low that text is unreadable. It is also not possible to transfer control over mouse and keyboard.
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Pro
Group video for free
You can hold video calls with up to 10 people.
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Con
Slow filesharing speed
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Pro
Available on Linux
A stripped down, minimalist version of Skype is available for Linux.
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Con
Owned by Microsoft
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Pro
File sharing
Skype allows you to send any files (MP3s, images, text, etc.) by simply dragging and dropping then in the chat window making it simple to share things with colleagues.
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Con
Obnoxiously large ads
Ads take up over 25% of the usable space.
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Pro
Cheap fixed phone number
Starting at $5/mo you can get a Skype number.
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Con
Poor Linux support
The version available for linux users is quite outdated, and does not support some of the newer functionality, such as the free group video calling and screen sharing.
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Pro
Send SMS and make regular calls
With Skype Credit bought or a subscription, you can send SMS and make direct calls.
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Con
Requires both ends to be online (if neither end is using a cloud-enabled device)
Messages are sent and received only when both ends are online, if neither end is using a cloud-enabled device. In this case, if you are online 9-17 and your recipient is online 18-3, messages will never be delivered.
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Pro
Group chat with archive / records
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Con
MIcrosoft (Skype's owner) actively assists eavesdroppers
On the other hand, if you lose your copy of one of your conversations, you may be able to get a copy of it from your government with a little bit of luck and a public records request.
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Pro
Powerful 1:1 chat and also group chat
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Specs
Platforms:
iOS, Android, WP, OSX, Windows, Linux, Web. Blackberry. Chrome OS. BSD, iPadOs
Publisher:
Skype
File Size:
Varies with device
Required Android Version:
6.0
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161
Handcent Next SMS
All
6
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Can split a group text
Splitting a group text is a great option, so that follow-up can be personal and not everyone sees every response.
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Con
Name is confusing
In your app drawer you'll see "Next SMS" but in Google Play "Handcent" is the first word of the app. That might confuse some people.
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Pro
Missed notification reminders
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Con
Texting from a PC, Mac or tablet requires extra work
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Pro
Can text from a PC, Mac or tablet
Texting from another device allows one to not pick up one's phone every minute.
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Pro
Customizable appearance
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