So, youre interested in secure, encrypted chat apps.
To that end, Signal and WhatsApp are easily the most popular.
Heres how they compare.
Pretty much any article you read about security, from Snowden to Russia, includes a mention of Signal.
WhatsApp: WhatsApp hasmore than 1 billion users, which is an insane number, all things considered.
Nowadays, many messaging apps using end-to-end encryption.
When done correctly, end-to-end encryption prevents a third party from viewing a conversation.
It does so by sending the key to unlock the message the receiver so only they can view it.
Both WhatsApp and Signal use the same exact protocols for encryption.
How they store personal information and message metadata differs though.
Metadata is the important part here.
Metadata can show who you send a message to and when.
You might remember the term from the Snowden leaks,because the CIA was collecting metadata on phone calls.
They can also put that metadata together using other peoples information.
None of this is bad by any stretch of the word, but its still worth noting.
This means that people may accidentally hand over some data to a third party without realizing it.
you could disable these backups of course, but many users may not realize its happening.
Signal, in turn, has the shortestPrivacy PolicyIve ever seen.
It then keeps your IP address for as long as necessary to send the information.
Signal was all about security first.
Because of this, WhatsApp has more now-traditional chat features.
Both Signal and WhatsApp also include voice calling and video calling to round out the messaging apps.
it’s possible for you to even set the wallpaper background for each conversation thread.
WhatsApp does pretty much everything that the likes of iMessage, Messenger, or Hangouts does.
Signal has plenty of features too, though theyre a bit more subdued and arguably more utilitarian.
In general, its more barebones and takes a little longer to update, but thats on purpose.
The simpler it is, the easier it is to keep your data private and secure.
you’ve got the option to access Signal on your rig, but its aChrome extension.
Still, it works well enough.
If your phone isnt connecting to the internet, the desktop client will not work.
This ones kind of a wash, neither are great, but at least they have options.
Which is best for you depends onwhyyoure using a messaging app.
