WhatsApp vs Telegram: Which is the best messaging app?

There are few debates that cause as much of a stir in the technological world as the eternal battle between WhatsApp y TelegramBoth apps are frequently updated with new features, so it's difficult to keep up with what each one offers.

To make it easy for you, here's the in-depth and updated duel of WhatsApp versus Telegram in aspects such as number of users, privacy, available features, and customization. At the very end, we tally the final score and tell you. Which is the best one today?.

Number of users

Let's start with the easiest part: the users. While there are certain tasks you can do by talking to yourself or passively (looking up information), we're primarily comparing two messaging apps, and as such, the main focus is sending and receiving messages. The more people you can potentially connect with, the better.

WhatsApp broke the barrier of 2.000 million users monthly assets just a few months ago, Meanwhile, Telegram was celebrating 200 million of users in 2018, and since then we haven't received any more up-to-date data. We don't know exactly how many users it has. Telegram That's not the case today, but it's clear that WhatsApp is winning by a landslide.

The victory is overwhelming for WhatsApp, whose user base can accommodate ten times that of TelegramTo be fair, Telegram It hasn't updated its figure for a few years, but the difference remains abysmal.

It is true that it is not a determining factor when choosing a messaging application, because It depends a lot on which app people use in your environment.However, WhatsApp's larger user base means you're less likely to be unable to find someone and be forced to use another app. Small point for WhatsApp.

Privacy & Security

Just as the purpose of a messaging app is to talk to other people, it's important that the message only reaches those people. privately and without it being intercepted. This is the most difficult aspect to compare between the two applications, as they both use a different approach, and even experts disagree on which one is better.

Both WhatsApp and Telegram offer end-to-end encryption, but there's a key difference: in WhatsApp it's enabled by default in all chats, while in Telegram Telegram only in secret chats. Regular Telegram chats are still encrypted, but not end-to-end.

While WhatsApp has been using the well-known encryption method for years SignalTelegram decided to reinvent the wheel with its own MTProto encryption. While no vulnerabilities have been discovered in MTProto to date, the expert community is It continues to lean more towards the known protocol. because of the unknown protocol. In any case, even if we were to equate both ciphers, the essential difference remains: Telegram It is not applied by default.

Beyond encryption, other factors come into play when considering the security and privacy of an application. For example, access control, a point at which both applications are finally on par after WhatsApp launched the app's biometric protection.

Now comes the complication: while WhatsApp is more secure in normal use thanks to end-to-end encryption, Telegram's private chats add a layer of security Optional features you can't get on WhatsApp include an incognito keyboard, screenshot protection, and self-destructing messages. Here's a summary of the privacy and security differences between WhatsApp and Telegram.

A key point regarding WhatsApp privacy is that, until now, the User accounts are tightly linked to phone numbersYou can't chat with anyone on WhatsApp without having their number, and that's a major privacy issue. You probably wouldn't mind sharing your number with your grandmother, but for more casual conversations—or in groups—phone numbers are a real problem.

Traditionally WhatsApp has been a somewhat "bland" messaging applicationwhere the most exciting thing you could do besides forwarding pictures was to send a giant throbbing heart, but this has changed a lot lately.

First came animated GIFs, then stickers to add more life and color to chats, and later the inevitable evolution: animated stickers. Currently, The experience is very similar on WhatsApp and Telegram..

So much so that what one application does, the other does. He ends up copying it sooner or later. While Telegram It remains more agile when it comes to developing new features, with small changes here and there to facilitate some tasks; in traditional messaging there are still very few differences between the two applications, and therefore we have a tie.

Share with your friends

Besides sending and receiving text messages, what else can you share on WhatsApp and Telegram? Of course, photos and videos, as well as other less conventional items like songs, files of any type or your location, which can be updated in real time on both Telegram and WhatsApp.

Now, if we add to the mixture the content available through bots, the list multiplies in Telegram. With them, you have access to tons of extra content in your chats, like minigames or updates from your favorite websites. Here's a summary of what you can send in each app.

Although the list is very similar in both cases, the difference lies in the nuances. For example, Telegram allows send files up to 2 GBwhich are stored in the cloud "forever." Although the difference in what you can share between WhatsApp and Telegram is closer than ever, Telegram wins this point.

Calls and video calls

WhatsApp launched its video calls in 2016. So much time has passed that the company has taken it a step further by adding group video calls with up to four participants. Meanwhile, Telegram is practically the only messaging app without video calls today.

Although voice calls have finally arrived on Telegram, there's still no sign of video calls. Yes, they offer good quality voice calls with some advanced features, but this point is undeniably deserved by WhatsApp, which solves the problem for... video calls for up to 4 peoplewithout needing another application.

Cross-platform operation

Sometimes you have your phone handy, sometimes you're sitting in front of a PC with a beautiful QWERTY keyboard. Why type on the small screen of your phone when you can do it more comfortably on your PC? That's where the convenience of using cross-platform apps comes in, where you can Continue what you're doing on another device.

WhatsApp is at a disadvantage here. Because of its different approach: it's not a cloud service, but rather it synchronizes data from one user to another via servers that don't actually store the messages. Although everything indicates that this could change, as of today WhatsApp can only be used on a single device.

Telegram, for its part, is a service based on the cloudso you can log in on as many devices as you want. In fact, its open API means there are countless clients for Telegram for each operating system.

WhatsApp launched its web and PC versions several years ago, but it's simply not the same: It requires that the phone be switched on and connected to the InternetThis isn't a standalone version, but rather an add-on to make chatting from your PC easier. Here's how WhatsApp and Telegram are available on different platforms:

It's not so much a fight about who supports more operating systems, but about the convenience of having a messaging app that you can take with you wherever you wantCurrently, this can only be done easily with Telegram, and therefore takes this point home.

Personalization.

We conclude our comparison with a very Android-centric factor: customization. Which app can be modified the most so that adapts to our tastes and preferences? In WhatsAppThis basically boils down to the WhatsApp Wallpapers app, which was last updated in 2011. You can choose from one of these wallpapers or solid colors for your chat background. The only additional customization option is the ability to switch to dark mode.

However, things are different when we talk about widgets. WhatsApp is an old dog and has five widgetsTelegram doesn't have any. They haven't been updated in years, but they're there if you want to keep unread chats handy on your home screen. You can also add chat shortcuts in Telegram, but not through the widget selector.

While WhatsApp's app customization is limited to the background color of chats or the dark theme, Telegram lets you change the color of almost everything. It's a highly customizable application., and therefore this small point remains.

WhatsApp vs Telegram: comparison chart

Before looking at the comparison table with what the different applications offer, the time to take stock of scores in all the previous sections. This is how the WhatsApp versus Telegram battle stands:

On paper, and for the fourth year in a row, Telegram is better than WhatsAppThis is demonstrated by its top ranking in cross-platform functionality, customization, privacy and security, and sharing with friends. WhatsApp, meanwhile, takes the gold medal in calls and video calls and in number of users, where it remains unbeatable.

Telegram, on the other hand, has a more difficult time making progress in its weak points, because The difference in the number of users is abysmal.The only thing they could do would be to add video calls, which is still one of their biggest drawbacks these days.

Of course, this is our score based on all the data analyzed previously, but as a user, it's up to you to evaluate how important the above points are to choose the one that best suits your needs. To help you make your decision, here's a summary table with the features of WhatsApp and Telegram.

Information taken from: xatakandroid.com

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