WhatsApp saw a worldwide service drop yesterday. These kinds of glitches aren’t unique to the Meta messaging app, but they do happen from time to time its enormous position in the sector leaves tens of millions of users isolated. Since it is not good to ‘put all your eggs in one basket’, you should know that there are alternatives to WhatsApp, some better in different areas.

The Meta application was successfully occupied “total for part” and it is common that – except in specialized media – the term “guasap” is used to define an entire category of instant messaging applications. Admittedly, WhatsApp works and is getting better as it evolves. It is probably the most cross-cutting service in terms of age groups and usually serves as a gateway to less digitized populations.

This type of application has become one of the necessities of every smartphone and many of us also use it on personal computers. It is certainly the most widely used software along with web browsers and is used today for communication tasks such as text chat but also others such as voice calls, video conferencing and sending multimedia content.

The problem is in the comment: rely on a single application For these tasks, this means that when the service goes down, which can happen with any Internet server, the call comes for the installed base, which is said to reach the gigantic number of 2,000 million users.

The best alternatives to WhatsApp

I know from personal experience that it is not easy to get the stone out of their “guasap”, but if you can convince family, friends and work colleagues to try other things, you will have the opportunity to gain access other solutions that are better in certain areasTechnically, they have more features, are more secure and take better care of personal data with more transparency. Meta (Facebook) has a terrible track record in this regard and you should know that all your WhatsApp data is being used in the rest of Mark Zuckerberg’s services. For this reason alone, you should already be trying other apps like the ones we’re going to remind you of.

Telegram: the best alternative

The biggest alternative to WhatsApp comes from an app that also has hundreds of millions of users. What was initially little more than a more secure WhatsApp clone ended up being what it is complete software. In fact, it has always been ahead of WhatsApp in features, technology, security and privacy.

We’ve been recommending it for years and actually use it for its advanced features as a communication platform to bring you feeds from our six portals, from MC to MCPRO going through muylinux where we started. In short: you also have the best of our house on Telegram.

Telegram collects less data than WhatsApp, although not as much as others on this list. The app has end-to-end encrypted chats, but the default chats are also stored on Telegram servers. If you want a real chat with encryption between devices, you can use secret mode. Once activated, messages are stored only on your device, increasing privacy. In both modes, if a person deletes a message, it is deleted from both devices.

Telegram is an open source software released under the GPL v3 license and anyone can view it on GitHub, which is reassuring for the source control part. It is freely available for mobile devices (Android, iPhone, iPad and even for Windows Phone) as well as for personal computers with an application for Windows, macOS and Linux PC that has beaten the equivalent version of WhatsApp by a landslide for years. It also has a version for web browsers in case you want to use it from there.

Signal: the one that grows the most

Signal is a free messaging service that offers video, voice and text chat, voice and video calls with end-to-end encryption, as well as secure file and photo transfers. With features similar to WhatsApp and a very easy-to-use interface typical of this type of application, it works under the protocol Signal Messaging Protocolwidely recognized as the most secure messaging protocol available.

Even more important is the minimum amount of information that the service collects, only the phone number, the date of connection to the service and the date of the last login. Any other data such as your contact list, groups you belong to or any other type of content is encrypted and stored on your device. As a result, no one, including Signal personnel, will see any of this data without physical access to your device.

The signal is also a open source development, which means your code is available online for public inspection and any privacy issues or security flaws can be verified by experts. In fact, WhatsApp’s internal encryption system is built with Signal code. Promoted by Edward Snowden, Jack Dorsey or technologist Bruce Schneier, another of its advantages is that the project is in charge of an independent non-profit organization that does not depend on any great technology and is maintained by voluntary donations.

It is available for free for Android and Apple mobile devices as well as Windows, Mac and Linux PCs. Since the announcement of WhatsApp’s data transfer policy change to Facebook, Signal downloads have increased by 4,200%. It is currently a big name in instant messaging, although it is nowhere near the number of users of WhatsApp or Telegram.

Threema: paid but the most secure

If most messaging apps are “free” and some like WhatsApp, the payment is masked by your data, Threema doesn’t cut it and it’s paid, yes, for an insignificant price like a single $2.99 ​​fee that many users would be happy to pay if it worked as promised. and we managed to change family and friends…

three offers end-to-end encryption for all data passing through your service. It it includes messages, video calls, files and even status updates. The app doesn’t skimp on features and comes with the usual text messaging, voice calling, video calling, file sharing, groups, lists and access to a desktop web client. Threema does not collect any user data and does not display any ads.

An application created in Switzerland and using exclusive servers hosted there, which allows you to chat completely anonymously, since it is not even necessary to link a phone number or email to your account (they are optional). The Service generates a random ID when you start using the App that other users can use to communicate with you.

It is available for Android (if you want with APK without going through the Google Play Store), iOS and web browsers. Threema has recently completed the transition to open source software and the code is regularly reviewed, so the user can be sure that there is nothing under the hood that could compromise anonymity.

Keybase: the most private

It’s not for all users, though they care most about privacy You may not find another like this one. Keybase started as a directory for private and public identification keys, but it also has an instant messaging component that can be used for private and group messages.

Keybase is a open source application and uses public key cryptography to protect messages. Messages, media and file transfers are protected in such a way that even Keybase cannot read the messages. Because it is based on public key identifiers, it can also be used anonymously.

It is available for free for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and Mac.

Discord: the most versatile

You may know Discord as a chat platform for games since it started there, but over time it has become something more, and its managers promote it as an alternative to WhatsApp, Teams and even the more professional Slack, depending on the user’s needs. This combination of features under a simple interface is one of its advantages, but here we highlight the benefits of instant messaging.

It is server based but also has a private messaging feature which is very similar to WhatsApp. In the “Friends” tab, you can add components using their username or gamertags for private messages, group chats, group calls, media sharing and more. You can also create a group chat with up to 10 friends. If you need more, you can create your own Discord server.

Unlike Signal and Telegram, you don’t have to share your phone number or any real name that identifies you. It’s free and available for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Linux, and a web version for any browser.

Wickr Me: Stand Firm… Military Grade

Like the previous one, it is not a well-known development (although it has been available for several years), nor is it intended for mass consumption, since it puts privacy and security before any other function, just like Keybase, but it goes a step further because it promises “military level” security in communications and in fact, after being validated by prestigious security research teams, it has been recommended for use by military authorities.

Wickr Me uses anonymous accounts, pwithout any personally identifiable information in the registry, without storing metadata, and without the developer having access to any information or contacts. All data sent, whether text or voice messages, videos or images, is protected by strong end-to-end encryption. One of the distinctive features of this development is that all messages and attachments They will self-destruct after a certain period of time. which users can set.

The development is open source and available on GitHub for community audit. It is freely available for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and Mac, although it has some limitations on the number of participants in groups (up to 10) or in audio or video calls (only 1). The Wickr Pro version is paid and allows you to use the full potential of this “ultra-private” application.

Wire: most business

It is a business collaboration suite with secure messaging, group chat capabilities, file sharing and other features that offers a free version called Wire Personal for free use.

To create an account, you must enter an email address or phone number. This development records some data, but not to the extent that WhatsApp does. It has end-to-end encryption and is developed under an open source model. Wire Personal is available for the major Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Linux platforms and also has a web version.

As you may have seen, there is no shortage of alternatives to WhatsApp, although – apart from Telegram – they still don’t have enough mass of users to be used by the general public. If we can convince family or friends to try other things, sure we will improve our instant messaging experience.