Skype vs Wickr

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.

You can show your whole desktop, a select part of the screen or a specific window over Skype.

There's software for Windows, Mac & Linux and apps are available on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

You can hold video calls with up to 10 people.

A stripped down, minimalist version of Skype is available for Linux.

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.

Starting at $5/mo you can get a Skype number.

With Skype Credit bought or a subscription, you can send SMS and make direct calls.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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