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Telegram Messenger – what’s good?
I’ve been using WhatsApp for more than 3 years now but lately it has been getting slow. A notification will be delayed by a couple of minutes, that funny video shared in the hilarious group will time out – little things like that. Granted, I got into Telegram not much long ago but so far it has never let me down, speed wise.
The makers of Telegram are so confident about it that they are offering$200,000 bounty to anyone who can break into MTProto, the backbone of Telegram communications. This is not the whisper in my ears kind of a thing. Telegram allows you to send end to end encrypted messages with self destruct options. Just go to Contacts -> New Secret Chat, select your contact and start talking.
Whatsapp Messenger – what’s good?
WhatsApp is probably the most well-run instant messaging service available, handling more instant messages in a day than the entire global SMS industry. WhatsApp uses your telephone number (and that of your friends) to set up an account so new contacts are added as soon as you get their phone number, assuming they use WhatsApp too. Unlike Facebook, it is not linked to a larger service.
WhatsApp allows you to send free instant messages to anyone you know with the app installed and you can chat with individuals or groups. You can send videos, pictures, voice messages and location data, and it also features some easy-to-use sharing features and has a huge array of emoticons to spice up your messages. What’s more, WhatsApp supports free voice calls. Whatsapp messages are saved on the SD card of the device. These chat logs are encrypted, but extracting conversations from them is easy. In fact, the internet is loaded with tutorials for the same .
It’s important to remember that while WhatsApp is adopting end-to-end encryption, unlike TextSecure, it’s not open source. WhatsApp can claim it’s using the TextSecure’s protocol, but we won’t really know what’s happening inside the app’s code, and it will be hard to verify.
SOMA Messenger – what’s good?
Recently released SOMA messenger tries to attract users by its zero price for installation and speedwork.The messenger was developed by Instanza. The app is now available for Android and iOS and can be downloaded from Google Play Store and iTunes. SOMA is similar to Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. And while the manual to the app mentions “some interesting distinctions”, we did not find anything unique.
SOMA is focused on security, having a 256-bit encryption (AES) and 2048-bit cryptography algorithm (RSA). This is probably the only feature that substantially distinguishes this messaging app from WhatsApp. The latter still has problems both with data encryption and with overall security.
HIKE Messenger – what’s good?
Mobile instant messengers aren’t known for their extras, simply because people have grown accustomed to the options and tools defined by the default option (AKA WhatsApp). But of course, all of the alternatives that wish to dethrone it must offer something extra that tempts users to abandon a well-established and widely spread platform for a more obscure one. In Hike’s case, this extra thing is its social side which takes a clue or two off of the most popular social networks.
Hike messenger has an option of 128 bit SSL encryption inside settings->privacy. This means chats are safe with Hike even on a public Wi-Fi. Encryption inside settings->privacy.
WeChat Messenger – what’s good?
Users of WeChat can be guaranteed of secure chatting thanks to the full security and privacy attributed to the TRUSTe certification of the app. This is a measure WhatsApp has recently taken in the new update by including an end-to-end encryption aimed at securing text messages of users and with this, there is a promise of security.
WeChat has the benefit of being a product of the most populated country in the world and when it comes to numbers, WeChat cannot fall short of any, as the country accounts for more than 70% of the application’s total user base. Despite this, WhatsApp still accounts for the largest number of users, boasting a reported 600 plus million users across the globe.
Verdict: It is not easy for any app developer to compete with the giants like whatsapp, but it seems like Telegram developers are struggling very hard and periodically updating their system, creating bountys. However users will always remain the king as it solely depends on them and their need to decide the best apps for themselves. I have used almost all alternatives of whatsapp but in my opinion hike is much better than the other big players like Wechat and Line. But whatsapp can not be ignored as all of our friends live in it and they are the only reason why instant messengers came into existence. Nothing in our world today is secure. There are many things around us that constantly fail, we can choose ‘Telegram‘ for privacy.
