What are the best messaging apps for iOS?

Media:images / audio / video / files / contacts / GIFs / location

Pay Nothing - The development team is supported by community donations and grants. There are no advertisements, and it doesn't cost anything to use. See More

Top Pro

Free as in both free beer and freedom, not as in "The customer is the product"

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. See More

Top Pro

Encrypted voice calling

Unlike many other apps, signal provides not only text messaging but also live encrypted voice calling. See More

Top Con

Code being used in Whatsapp and other parties undermines trust

It's unlikely FB would add encryption it does not have access to. See More

Top Pro

Supports phone calls

Top Con

Centralized architecture

Signal's server architecture has been partially decentralized since December 2013, when it was announced that the messaging protocol that is used in Signal had successfully been integrated into the Android-based open-source operating system CyanogenMod. As of CyanogenMod 11.0, the client logic is contained in a system app called WhisperPush. According to Open Whisper Systems, "the Cyanogen team runs their own Signal messaging server for WhisperPush clients, which federates with Open Whisper Systems' Signal server, so that both clients can exchange messages with each-other seamlessly". The WhisperPush source code is available under the GPLv3 license. In January 2016, however, the CyanogenMod team announced that they will be discontinuing WhisperPush on February 1, and recommended that its users switch to Signal. After this, Signal's server architecture will be entirely centralized. See More

Top Pro

Supports sharing of various different media types

Signal supports: emoji, pictures, videos, audio, contacts, any location and GIF. See More

Top Pro

Recommended by Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden uses this messenger and recommends it to everyone who is concerned about his privacy. See More

The interface is very simple, fast and easy to use. WhatsApp does a great job of focusing on the basics behind messaging. The app is simple to use, fast & very polished. 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. See More

WhatsApp

Top Pro

Straightforward interface

Top 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. See More

ifygal's Experience

A lovely app to use See More

Specs

Platforms:Android, iOS, Web, Mac, Windows, Windows Phone

Media:images, video, audio, documents

WhatsApp reported 800 million users in April, 2015. Your friends are most likely already using WhatsApp, so it's easy to get setup. See More

Top Pro

Hugely popular

Top 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. See More

Anthony's Experience

Excellent app to use. See More

Top Pro

End to end encryption in all messages and calls based on Signal protocol.

Top 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 See More

Top Pro

Effortlessly builds your contacts

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. See More

Top Con

Not a multi device app

No support for the iPad, the app has support for possibly all Android tablets but only the iPhone on the iOS platform can install WhatsApp. See More

Top Pro

Web, Mac, and Windows Apps

WhatsApp can be used from the desktop via the web app (web.whatsapp.com), the Mac app, or the Windows app. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

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. See More

Hangouts

Top Con

Lack of end to end encryption

Top 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. See More

Specs

Platforms:Web / iOS / Android / OSX / Chrome

End-to-end encryption:No

Media:images / maps / emoji / stickers / GIFs

Audio recording:No

Hangouts uses Google account credentials. If you use any other Google service, then you already have an account set up. See More

Top Con

Doesn't support sending voice notes or video recordings

Top Pro

No need to create a separate account if you use any other Google service

Top Con

Weaker compared to Android counterpart

A list of features that are in the Android version of Hangouts are missing in the iOS version. Most notably SMS support. See More

Top 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 if you haven't. There are business, education and government solutions that increase the participant count to for video calls to 15 and offers support. Additionally, you can switch between either the front-facing or rear-facing camera on your phone. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Free calls to US and Canada from anywhere in the world

Most calls to US and Canada are free and international calls have cheap rates. See More

Top Con

Poor interface

Top 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 device. See More

Top Con

SMS is not supported on web

SMS messages can only be sent from the mobile apps and they don't sync with Chrome/Gmail plugins unless originated from Google Voice. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

No need to download or sign up for a new service See More

iMessage

Top Pro

Comes pre-installed

Top Con

Not cross-platform

iMessage is not available on anything but Apple devices. See More

Electrux Redsworth's Experience

Fun to use See More

Top Pro

Secure end-to-end encryption

Top Pro

Free and unlimited messages over Wi-Fi and data

Messages clearly indicates whether messages are being sent over iMessage (blue) or SMS (green) where messaging rates apply. iMessages do not count as SMS messages with your carrier, instead they use a negligible amount of data to send over Wi-Fi and cellular data networks. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform within Apple ecosystem

iMessage is available on iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac. See More

Top Pro

Seamlesss switching between SMS messages

Top Pro

Clean UI

UI is minimalistic, and clear. And there is a plethora of stuff on the left of text box if you wanna use them. See More

Top Pro

Friends don't need to "sign up"

You can just message them using their existing phone number or Apple ID and they will get your message. See More

Top Pro

Apps and games for iMessage are available

For example, you can play games like pool or you can show someone a destination to go to . See More

Top Pro

Supports voice messages

Short voice recordings/messages can be quickly sent, and messages can be easily dictated into written messages as well. See More

Top Pro

Clear indicators for message delivery and receipt

The app indicates when messages have been sent, when they have been read, and when someone is typing. See More

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. See More

Messenger

Top Con

Lack of privacy

Top Pro

Uses Facebook friends to create a contacts list

Allows communicating with anyone who's a friend on Facebook. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / WP

End-to-end encryption:No

Media:images / video / audio / emoji / stickers

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. See More

Top Con

Lack of end-to-end encryption

Top Pro

Easy to share posts from Facebook

Integration with Facebook makes it easy to share any interesting posts from the Facebook timeline. See More

Top Con

No video messages

Currently there is no way to send video messages using Messenger. See More

Top Pro

Read receipts

Can see who has seen each message in group messages. See More

Top Pro

Great UI

User interface of the application is clean, intuitive and easy to overview. See More

EFF gave Viber's security 1 out of 7 points in November, 2014. It deducted points because the provider is capable of reading encrypted messages, there's no way to verify contacts identities, past communications are not secure if encryption keys are stolen, the code is not open to independent reviews, the security design is not properly documented and there has not been a recent code audit. See More

Viber

Top Con

Has multiple a security vulnerabilities

Top Pro

Desktop apps allow texting, calling and enable transfering calls

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. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / WP / BB / Symbian / Windows / OSX / Linux

Media:images / video / audio / emoji / stickers

Viber communication's aren't end-to-end encrypted. The company has access to the key that the communication's are encrypted with. See More

Top Con

Potential spyware

Top 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. See More

Top Con

The company evades U. S. tax

Top 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. See More

Top Con

Shady company

Top Pro

Supports 200 person group chat

Viber allows creating groups of up to 200 people on the iOS 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. See More

Top Pro

Completely free and ad-less

Viber uses data connection and the app is free. There are also no advertisements. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top 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. See More

Top Pro

Clean interface

The interface is simple, functional and intuitive. See More

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. See More

Snapchat

Top Con

Security concerns

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. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS

End-to-end encryption:no

Media:images / video

Audio recording:no

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. See More

Top Con

Non-intuitive UI

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. See More

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. See More

GroupMe has a built in function to read receipts. See More

GroupMe

Top Pro

Reads receipts

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. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android iOS WP

End-to-end encryption:no

Media:images / emoji / GIFs

Audio recording:no

Allows sending messages from web services via IFTTT. See More

Top Pro

IFTTT Integration

Top Pro

Responsive and friendly dev team

Developers are in several public group chats, and will respond, help, and accept and implement feedback promptly See More

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. See More

The editor allows cropping images, drawing and writing text on them as well as add decorations. See More

Wickr

Top Pro

Includes a basic photo editor

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. See More

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. See More

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. See More

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. See More

Top Pro

Group messaging

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. See More

Top Pro

Content shredder

Wickr has a feature that not only erases all messages, but also overwrites them with junk data. See More

One-to-one Skype-to-Skype video calls can be made over Wi-Fi or cellular networks. You can also join ongoing group video calls with audio only, but cannot initiate group video from your iOS device. See More

Skype

Top Pro

Video calls

Top Con

Terrible account setup

Requires creating or joining Microsoft account network - unique account name is picked by msn by default - although the user name can be changed. See More

Specs

Platforms:iOS Android WP OSX Windows Linux

End-to-end encryption:no

Media:images / video /audio / emoji

Audio recording:no

You can buy Skype Credit or sign up for a subscription to make calls and send SMS at a reduced price. See More

Top Pro

Combines cellular and data messaging

Top Pro

Widely used

Chances are, the person you want to communicate with has a Skype account. See More

Top Pro

File sharing

Can send any type of file over Skype. See More

Access to contacts is an optional feature See More

Threema

Top Pro

No access to contacts required

Top Con

Single device only

You cannot use multiple devices to send messages. However, it does have message mirroring on a web client. See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / WP

Media:images / video / audio

Privacy laws protect the data Threema has. See More

Top Pro

Servers in Switzerland

Top Con

Not free

Unlike many other options Threema is not free. See More

Top Pro

Encrypted communication

Provides complete end-to-end encryption. See More

Top Pro

Provides a web client

You can control and message with friends via Threema Web, the official web client for Threema. See More

Top Pro

Ability to send pics and videos

Threema supports sending media messages such as video, pics and even voice messages. See More

Top Pro

Supports encrypted group chats

Top Pro

Group chat polls

Top Pro

Friends can be added by scanning QR code or by keying in personal ID code

Top Pro

Phone calls supported

Top Pro

Registration without phone number

Registration is handled by random generated IDs. No phone number needed. See More

WeChat generates a QR code for each user that other can be scanned to add them as a friend. See More

WeChat

Top Pro

Friends can be added by scanning a QR code

Top Con

Notifications get muted after inactivity

New message notifications stop getting pushed if the application isn't opened for some extended period of time (seems to be around a week or so) See More

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS / OSX / WP / Windows / BB / Symbian / Web

End-to-end encryption:No

Media:images / video / audio / emoji / stickers

Users can record a voice message from within the app to then send it to a recipient, who can then play the message from within the app. It is all self contained. See More

Top Pro

Easy to send voice messages

Top Con

WeChat complies with China's requirements to hand over data

WeChat confirms it will hand over all private data when requested by the Chinese government See More

Top Pro

Large collection of animated stamps

Top Con

Conversations and chat groups aren't ported to new devices

Messages are stored on each device, so shifting to a new device means losing all the previous conversations, as well as an inability to post in previous chat groups until someone else posts there and you're alerted of a new message. See More

Top Pro

Can be used as a Walkie Talkie

WeChat has push-to-talk functionality that can be used both one-on-one and in groups. See More

Top Con

User base outside of China is comparatively small

While WeChat has over 400 million users the majority of them are in China. Adoption in other markets has been slow. See More

Top Pro

Flexible creation of chat groups

Top Pro

Easy navigation to send up to 9 photos at once

Top Pro

Moments social network is seamlessly incorporated

Top Pro

Can be used to exchange random messages with users anonymously

WeChat includes a Drift Bottle features that's a lot like a message-in-a-bottle. Users can send and discover anonymous text and voice messages to and from random WeChat users. See More

Top Pro

Filters for photos

WeChat includes a collections of filters that can be applied to photos to change how they look. See More

Top Pro

Enables meeting new people

WeChat has a feature that pairs random people for a conversation. It is activated by shaking the phone (requires location sharing to be enabled) and will present a list of people who are doing the same and how far away from you they are. Another feature for meeting new people is the Friend Radar that will display people in your vicinity that can then be added to your contacts list. See More

Since many brands use stamps for promotional purposes, everything from movies to food brands to Taylor Swift have released stamp collections. See More

Line

Top Pro

Enormous, constantly updated stamp collection

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. See More

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. See More

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). See More

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. See More

Top Pro

Integrated social network

Similar to Facebook's timeline. See More

Messages can be set to self-destruct after a set time. See More

StealthChat

Top Pro

Can send self-destructing messages

Top Con

Code is not verified

Specs

Platforms:Android / iOS

Media:Image

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". See More

Top Pro

Offers 3 types of encryption

Top Con

Poor support

Top Con

Lacks group chat

Top Con

Closed source

No way to verify security practices. See More

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. See More

Concurrent sessions allow you to be logged in on your desktop while also being logged in on your phone. See More

IMO

Top Pro

Push notifications

Top Pro

Accounts can be linked so you don't have to sign in to several accounts

Top Pro

Video call support

Top Pro

Chat groups

Top Pro

Concurrent sessions

Top Pro

Easy to switch between conversations with tabs

Tabbed chats make it easy to switch between conversations See More

Top Pro

Beautiful user interface

Although IMO has a comparable, and in some cases superior, feature set when compared to the competition its key selling point is its interface. IMO also has a fully functional website that you can use for chat while on your desktop or laptop. This really puts IMO ahead of the competition as you can use the same system on all your devices so you don't have to deal with overlapping notifications etc. (Note: IM+ also has this feature) It should also be noted that it has the highest rating in the App Store due to both the UI and its stability. See More