Whether it is entertainment, education, work, or anything else, your smartphone can help you do everything you can wish for. But one of the oldest uses of any mobile phone is to communicate with others. You can either do this by calling people or texting them as per your liking. Most people prefer to text others instead of calling them just because of how easy and fast it is. This is possible thanks to the wide range of messaging apps available out there. Out of all the various messaging apps available for Android and iOS smartphones, WhatsApp is one of the most popular options, thanks to its wide range of features and options. Moreover, since almost everyone uses WhatsApp, you can easily find your friends, family, and almost everyone else on this app with ease. But, unfortunately, WhatsApp is a messaging app owned by Facebook, which can be an issue for many buyers. This is primarily because with the latest WhatsApp update; there are a lot of changes to the WhatsApp privacy policy. Not only that, but many people also find a lot of features missing from the WhatsApp messaging app. Due to this, you might be looking for messaging apps as a replacement for WhatsApp. You can also use WhatsApp mods like GBWA, YOWA, FMWA for more features.
7 Best WhatsApp Alternatives for Android & iOS
You can find the 7 best WhatsApp alternatives for Android & iOS. To help you pick the perfect messaging app for your smartphone and all your texting needs, all these apps have been stated along with their essential features and details.
1 7 Best WhatsApp Alternatives for Android & iOS1.1 1. Signal1.2 2. Telegram1.3 3. Discord1.4 4. Kik1.5 5. Snapchat1.6 6. Skype1.7 7. Viber2 Conclusion
This will allow you to easily choose and install the best apps like WhatsApp for Android & iOS by simply going through the following messaging apps one by one. In addition, I have also shared these cool WhatsApp tricks.
1. Signal
Out of all the various WhatsApp alternatives available, Signal is one of the most recent ones. However, despite being such a new messaging app, it is prevalent among smartphone users. This is simply because Signal is much safer regarding online privacy, making it an excellent alternative for all who wish to protect their online privacy.
The end-to-end encryption used by both WhatsApp and Facebook was developed by the developers of Signal. And now, they have made their messaging app that integrates the same encryption method and various other security and privacy features. You get features like self-destructing messages, no screenshot compatibility, screen lock, and much more. One of the unique features of the Signal app is its ability even to encrypt any media files that you share over Signal. Being a messaging app, you also get features like chat encryption, chat backups, voice and video calls, group calls, and much more. In addition, since Signal is a relatively new messaging app, it also offers a modern and sleek user interface. You can also change the app’s theme color and switch to dark mode if needed with ease. Furthermore, just like WhatsApp, Signal is also available on multiple platforms, including Android and iOS, for completely free. Availability: Android, iOS (FREE)
2. Telegram
Even though Telegram is one of the oldest messaging apps available, it is still considered one of the best alternatives to WhatsApp for many reasons.
Because Telegram is open source, it is entirely free to use, and you will not get any ads while using it. And unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is not owned by Facebook or any other tech giant, which is excellent for those who wish to protect their online privacy. While WhatsApp is primarily used for talking with your friends and family in personal chats, Telegram is primarily used for its groups and channels. This is simply because, unlike WhatsApp, Telegram allows you to create groups with up to 100K people in it with ease. Since you can also share media files of up to 1.5 GB in Telegram, it is widely used as a file-sharing app, making it more than just a messaging app if you are in the right groups and channels. In some cases, these groups and channels can also have bots, which are great for automation, especially if you want to download a file. Talking about the security features offered by Telegram, you will be glad to know that you get standard features like end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, secret chats, and app lock functionality out of the box. Availability: Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, Web (Free)
3. Discord
Those who play many PC games or on any other platform must already be familiar with Discord. It is one of the most popular VoIP or group voice calling apps, primarily used while gaming. You can even use this app to chat with your friends as well as new random people online.
While it was primarily a PC-only app, it is also available on Android and iOS platforms, making it a great WhatsApp alternative for many users. In addition, even though it is one of the most minor used features of Discord, it still allows you to direct message people on this platform. You can also share files with them and place either voice or video calls as you please. But if you have ever used Discord in the past, you must know that it is primarily made for group communication via its servers. This can be done by simply joining your preferred Discord server or creating your own. Once you are on a Discord server, you can find a wide range of text and voice channels. Thanks to these voice channels, you can easily place group voice, and video calls perfect for gamers. And the best part about Discord is that you get all of these functions right on your smartphone. Availability: Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, Web (Free)
4. Kik
While Kik might not be as popular as other messaging apps stated in this list of WhatsApp alternatives for Android and iOS, it can still be an excellent option for many smartphone users.
Even though you can find most of your friends and family on WhatsApp, some of them might not be using it just because it uses your phone number for signing up as well as contacting others. Thankfully, that is not an issue at all with the Kik messaging app. Instead, this messaging app is similar to most other social media apps that only require your email id for signing up. Once you have signed up, you get a unique username within the Kik messenger that can be shared with others to contact them. Despite not using your phone number, Kik still offers most of the functions found in WhatsApp. This includes personal messaging, group chats, sending emojis and stickers, placing voice and video calls, sharing media, and much more. Just like the Telegram messaging app, Kik also supports bots in its group chats for automation. You can play games with these bots, get news updates, and even use them for downloading files. Availability: Android, iOS (Free)
5. Snapchat
Even though Snapchat is primarily a social media platform for sharing photos and videos with your friends, you can also consider it a great WhatsApp alternative for Android & iOS. It can be a great pick, especially for those who want to protect their online privacy while texting others and sending media files to friends and family online.
One of the best things about Snapchat is that it supports self-destructing messages. Thus, you can easily send any image to your friends which will get deleted from their phone directly. Another great online privacy-oriented feature found in Snapchat is that if someone takes a screenshot of your chat, you get notified about it right away. Talking about the whole user experience offered by Snapchat, it is pretty similar to any other social media app out there. You can either directly message people or create group chats with your friends. After recent updates, Snapchat also allows its users to place voice calls and group voice calls with ease. If you are looking to have fun while texting your friends, you will be glad to know that it features a wide range of GIFs and stickers. You also get live face filters in Snapchat, which is the primary reason for the popularity of Snapchat as a social media platform. Availability: Android, iOS (Free)
6. Skype
Suppose you are looking for the best WhatsApp alternatives that can be used for both productivity and work-related communication as well as personal messaging. In that case, you can consider Skype for the same. Initially, Skype was only used for placing video conference calls for online work meetings.
But since Skype is now available on both Android and iOS, it is also a great messaging app for many users. Moreover, since Skype is owned by Microsoft, it is trendy and most likely used by most of your contacts and friends. While almost any WhatsApp alternative, including Skype, can easily handle all of your text messages, most of them do not offer the same quality as found in Skype voice and video calls. You can also consider using Skype if you call someone overseas and do not want to pay the high charges of international calls. Since Skype is used for many online meetings and conferences, it can easily support having multiple people within a single call without any issues. Like most other apps like WhatsApp, this one also allows you to share media files, stickers, GIFs, and other things to keep your online conversations exciting and engaging. Availability: Android, iOS, Web, macOS, Windows (Free)
7. Viber
While Viber may not be as popular as other options for WhatsApp alternatives for Android and iOS, you can still consider it thanks to the wide range of features it provides to the user.
Starting with its security and privacy features, you will be glad to know that all of your Viber conversations are protected with end-to-end encryption. Even the voice or video calls you place using Viber are entirely encrypted so that no one else can see them. Unlike WhatsApp, you can install Viber on all of your devices at the same time, which can be pretty great if you want to have it installed on your tablet as well as a mobile phone. Moreover, one of the unique features of Viber is that you can place international phone calls for entirely free. And this even works if the receiver does not have Viber installed on their smartphone, making it an excellent option for talking with your friends and family who live in other countries. Text messages can be sent along with media files, stickers, GIFs, and much more as you please. Availability: Android, iOS, Windows (Free)
Conclusion
Even though WhatsApp is a top-rated messaging app, not everyone might be interested in using it. This can be due to the lack of specific features or privacy concerns with the recent WhatsApp update. Because of this, you might be looking for some alternatives to WhatsApp that can be installed on your smartphone with ease. Hence, the 7 best WhatsApp alternatives for Android & iOS have been stated above. Furthermore, all these messaging apps have been displayed along with their essential details and features so that you can understand which messaging app will suit your needs the best. Apart from being feature-rich, these messaging apps are also top-rated, ensuring that most of your contacts are also using them. Thus, you can indeed find a suitable alternative to WhatsApp made for your Android or iOS smartphone. If you liked any of the above 7 messaging apps present above, make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section down below.
