If you haven’t heard about Telegram then you must be too deep into WhatsApp. While WhatsApp dominates in terms of numbers Telegram comes with a better package of features.
The two apps do pretty much the same thing but there are some discreet differences that set them apart. Let’s put them side by side starting with WhatsApp and draw a line.
WhatsApp Features
- Cross-platform support. WhatsApp is available for all the popular mobile operating systems which include Android, iOS, Windows mobile, Blackberry OS and Symbian. This means that the app has a large audience target as very few people still own phones that run on Java.
- Text messaging. It is probably the reason why it was built. WhatsApp sends messages from one user to another or in a chat group using the phone’s data plan or the wi-fi connection which means much lower costs.
- File transfers. WhatsApp allows its users to send various types of files or even record an audio segment and send it to their contact.
Telegram Features
- Cross-platform support. Telegram can be installed on any kind of devices with Android, iOS, Windows mobile, tablets and desktops or laptops running Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X.
- Text messaging. Telegram can be used to send messages between contacts or within chat groups of up to 200 users.
- File transfers. Just like WhatsApp it supports file transfers. Users can send any type of file.
- Secret Chats. Telegram allows its users to have private conversations using the Secret Chats feature that encrypts the discussion and cannot be seen even by the administrators.
- Self-destructive messages. If Private Chats is not enough Telegram added a self-destruction feature that deletes the message permanently from all devices it was sent to. Once deleted it can never be recovered.
Why Telegram Is Better
WhatsApp had a lot of problems in the past in terms of security. Up till late 2012 the messages were sent as text with no encryption. It was possible to intercept the packets sent and read the messages. Telegram uses a 256 AES encryption for all its messages. The Private Chats feature and the self-destruction messages are only found in Telegram which makes it more secure and adds even more privacy. Also Telegram was not involved in any kind of security scandals regarding its software.
Another benefit of using Telegram is the ability to install it on desktops and tablets. WhatsApp is only supported on smartphones.
To sum things up it is safe to say that Telegram can do all the things that WhatsApp does but better. We are talking about better security and support for other platforms besides smartphones. It evens has a system that is similar to the Blue Tick feature from WhatsApp. In Telegram messages have a tick for when they are sent and two ticks when they are read.
There is one feature that might set Telegram back. WhatsApp will support voice calls over the internet in the near future. The feature should be launched sometime in 2015 but that doesn’t mean that Telegram will not follow the trend and release its own voice call system.
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