The Game of Phones: Telegram vs. WhatsApp
Undeniably WhatsApp is the giant in instant messaging but there is one rival which is getting closer and closer to it - Telegram. WhatsApp currently has of more than 1 billion monthly active users, which is a long way ahead of Telegram’s 100 million. Nevertheless, both have some unique features that differentiate it from another. What are the features? Let’s have a look!
TELEGRAM
Telegram was founded by exiled Russian-born billionaire brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013. What's unique?
- Secret Chat - you can have a conversation with end-to-end encryption among other security options. You can’t forward a message from a secret chat. You can also set a self-destruct timer, which will destruct your messages.
- Stickers - Telegram supports stickers! That's undeniably awesome feature of the app. You create your very own stickers or choose from different stickers available online.
- Up to 1.5 GB - you can send almost any file types (zip, PDF etc.) up to 1.5 GB; on WhatsApp up 160 MB.
- Multi-device access - a mobile, a computer, a loptop - you can use Telegram on various devices thanks to its cloud based sync feature. You can start chatting on one device and continue it on another. All the messages too are synced so it’s quick and efficient.
- Super groups - you can create a group with up to1000 members along with cool public as well as private channels.
- Last seen - Telegram lets you hide "last seen" for a particular contact - you can simply hide it from a single contact or more and not for everyone on your list.
- Edit Messages and Mention People - hold on a message you have sent and click the “edit” icon to start editing the text. Telegram also allows you to mention people in groups, so you’ll receive a notification if someone mentions you in a group.
CURIO: There is a Galician version of Telegram - Galegram.
WhatsApp was founded by Acton and Jan Koum in 2009 and in February 2014 it has been bought by Facebook for US$19 billion. What's uniqe?
- WhatsApp Calls - if you have your mobile data or WiFi you can call any contact available on WhatsApp list.
- Read Receipts - double ticks when a message lands on the recipient’s device and it turns blue when it is read. You can also check the exact time when a message was read.
- Backup of Chats - can backup your chats to the Google Drive account of your choice, so you can restore your older chats. There’s also ability to email chats, archive chats or star a specific message, which comes in handy at times.
- Status - a new feature that's designed to let users share videos, photos, and GIFs that expire after 24 hours. WhatsApp Status is essentially identical to the ones used on Instagram and Snapchat.
- Format Text - you have the ability to format texts, which is a really cool feature. You can now format texts in Bold (*text*), Italics (_text_), Bold & Italic (*_text_*) and strike through (~text~).
To sum things up, it’s clear that Telegram offers a more great experience but you will have to convince your friends and their friends to use it.
What about you? Tell us whose side are you on when it comes to Telegram vs WhatsApp. Comment!
Beata Jaranowska
