Currently, the instant messaging apps that everyone is talking about are WhatsApp, Telegram, and more recently Signal, but which one is better? If you want to know which of these three apps is the best, stay with us and find out about Signal vs Telegram vs WhatsApp, which is better? Comparison, advantages, and disadvantages.

Signal vs Telegram vs WhatsApp: Comparison, advantages, and disadvantages

There are several aspects that must be analyzed in order to compare these three applications and their current domain in the field of instant messaging, so let’s see:

Encryption

Let’s start the comparison with something of great relevance, that is, the encryption of each app and that is, in this case, both Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption, in fact, WhatsApp and Signal use the same type of encryption, while Telegram uses its own encryption called MTProto.

However, Telegram does not encrypt all end-to-end chats by default but only does it in secret chats which is a disadvantage, while WhatsApp and Signal do it in all chats, adding functions such as messages. self-destructing, protection against screenshots, etc., which are one of its biggest advantages.

Although without the secret chats Telegram continues to encrypt the messages between the user and the cloud, many are not very happy about this because they would prefer that the encryption occurs entirely at the sender and receiver without the need for servers in between.

So, although the three apps have encryption for their chats, only WhatsApp and Signal do it in a more extensive and transparent way, so in this regard, both apps have a point in their favor that Telegram does not have.

Collecting metadata

The metadata is the information related to a message that is sent, without necessarily being the content of the message itself, that is, metadata is data such as the date and time the message was sent, the address from which it was sent, etc.

Let’s start talking about Telegram and it is that in this cloud-based service, all your conversations, photos, and non-private files will be stored (although also encrypted) on their servers. Although it is not clear what metadata they store, it is possible that these are current and kept for a maximum of one year.

On the other hand, WhatsApp does know that it accumulates many metadata about its users, such as telephone number and model, location, dates of use, IP addresses, telephone number, network operators, etc., which seen from a point of view of privacy, it is a disadvantage.

While Signal is the only one of the three applications that only archives the last connection (day) and the phone number of your account, so in this case, Signal earns an extra point and reveals its most important advantage.

Additional privacy features

Regarding privacy, WhatsApp does not have much to offer beyond the verification in two steps and the possibility of hiding the last connection time, the profile photo, who adds you in groups, and status information, so limited options can be considered one of its most notable disadvantages.

The signal does not allow you to manage who you want not to see your profile photo, but at least it has advantageous options available such as self-destructing messages, two-step verification, optional blocking against screenshots, messages without notifications, and an incognito keyboard.

Telegram also has advantages such as two-step verification, it also has an incognito keyboard, self-destructing messages, protection against screenshots in secret chats, and a configuration that allows the account to be destroyed or deleted after a certain time of activity; All these Telegram and Signal options make them earn points above WhatsApp in this regard.

Signal vs Telegram vs WhatsApp: Conclusion

Finally and taking into account all the factors analyzed, we can conclude that the big winner today is Signal, due to its settings regarding security and privacy, being a pioneer in this field, above WhatsApp and Telegram, in addition to its interface. simple to use, but very useful, and for you which app is the best? Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp?