WhatsApp was still down. Have you thought about switching? 📲

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Last Thursday evening, April 28, WhatsApp, the famous messaging application of the Meta group, presented new slowdowns. Indeed, some users were unable to send or receive messages. The hashtag « #whatsappdown » then quickly reappeared on Twitter. Even if the problem was quickly solved by the WhatsApp teams, it is important to remember that these failures are increasingly common on the messaging application. The biggest outage, which dates back to December 2021, had weakened many companies that rely on the platform, but had also shown our dependence on it. So the question arises, are there any alternatives to WhatsApp?

The most popular alternative: Telegram

When it comes to WhatsApp alternatives, the first name that comes up is Telegram. The messaging app gained even more popularity after WhatsApp announced the change of its privacy policy. It offers the same basic features as WhatsApp (messages, groups, audio and video calls), is full of good ideas and does things differently from WhatsApp on some topics…. Let’s take a quick tour of it.

Telegram is like a supercharged version of WhatsApp with a wide range of features. Conversations are more fun on Telegram. There are a lot of nice animations within the application that make the experience very pleasant. On top of that, there are some very handy features that arrive almost every month that will make you wonder why you haven’t made the move since.

strengths

• Multi-device support for use on multiple smartphones, tablets and computers
• Features for groups: Ability to create polls, pinned messages in groups, reactions to messages
• Audio room instead of the group call that rings at everyone’s home and the possibility to mute the microphones if you are an admin
• Video room with screen sharing
• Bots to perform various tasks
• Channels, mailing lists to which you can subscribe. This is the opposite of WhatsApp where you are added to a list
• Large File Sharing
• Non-public phone numbers in groups and channels. Only those who have your number can see it. For the rest, it’s just your username

weaknesses

• Messages are not end-to-end encrypted by default. An additional maneuver is required.
• Absence of statutes

To download the application, go to the App Store or the Play Store

Source : Telegram

The most secure alternative: Signal

Let’s go back to January 2021. WhatsApp announces its new privacy policy, and there’s this tweet from Elon Musk.

Use Signal

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021

The whole world then discovered Signal, a secure messaging application, used in particular by Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower. Unlike WhatsApp or Telegram, Signal is not owned by a company, but by a non-profit organization. For the rest, Signal is a messaging application as you know it with messages, groups, audio and video calls.

Strengths

• Security with end-to-end encryption
• Privacy

Weaknesses

• No mailing list
• Very basic features

Source : Signal

Local alternatives: OnDjoss & Mbuntu

If you prefer to turn to local alternatives, no problem. Solutions like OnDjoss and Mbuntu exist. Both developed by Cameroonian startups, they offer the same basic features as the bigger applications: messages, groups, audio and video calls. The only criticism is that they are not available on some platforms. OnDjoss is currently only available on Android. Mbuntu is available on the web, on computers. The iOS and Android versions are only available in Beta versions.

To download OnDjoss, go here and to download Mbuntu, go there

Source : OnDjoss

Source : Mbuntu