As a customer, we all want privacy. We want our files to be transferred from one end to another end securely. Early this year, Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and CEO, had his iPhone hacked after receiving a 4.4MB video file which contains malware on his WhatsApp. The incident was under investigation by the FBI.

Soon after, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram wanted Jeff Bezos to use Telegram app instead of Facebook-owned WhatsApp. We know that we cannot say "WhatsApp is better than Telegram", or vice-versa until we have made a comparison between these two popular chat apps.

The rise of messaging apps, WhatsApp and Telegram

In October 2019, Telegram had 300 million users around the world, and this is a pretty impressive number. WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion users in 2019, making WhatsApp a lead among the other chat app competitors.

WhatsApp and Telegram shares many look-alike features, which most feature originated by Telegram. These features include web client, group chats, file sharing and message deletion. When it comes to file sharing, Telegram allows up to 1.5 GB of file transfer while Whatsapp allows up to 100MB. WhatsApp allows up to 256 members in a chat group, whereas Telegram pushed the chat group members from 5,000 to 100,000.

The one thing that WhatsApp offers, which is not available on Telegram is the support of video calls. Video calls are one of the most requested features for Telegram.

WhatsApp and Telegram both offer the same security degree. However, Telegram allows users to create a secret chat group and self destruct timer function. These two security features are not available on WhatsApp. Yet, WhatsApp uses a 60 digit code QR code verification to prevent unauthorised access.

When it comes to the security of chat backups, Telegram has a secure framework which allows the users to have more control over the chat backups. It's web client, the Telegram Desktop, enables users to log in and able to generate backup which can be saved in HTML or JSON file format. Additionally, Telegram Passport protect it's users' personal identification documents with better end-to-end encryption.

WhatsApp's chat backup are not stored on WhatsApp's servers. Therefore, backing up your chat history can be complicated. For iPhone users, WhatsApp chat backups are stored on iCloud. This means that the messages and media are not protected by Whatsapp end-to-end encryption. For Andriod users, WhatsApp chat history can be backup on Google Drive.

Five features on WhatsApp everyone love

Voice and video calls

WhatsApp supports both voice and video calls. As long as you have a strong and stable network connection, you will get to enjoy a high quality of call experience.

Notification for delivery and read

WhatsApp informs the sender if the message has been delivered and read by the other party promptly. In the chat system, WhatsApp will display double ticks when a message lands on the recipient's device successfully. The ticks will turn blue when the message has been read. WhatsApp will also indicate the timestamp of the message once read.

End-to-end encryption everywhere

While Telegram uses end-to-end encryption only for secret chat, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption everywhere.

Backup of chat histories

WhatsApp's current data backing system is secured, but some users may not be happy with it. Therefore, WhatsApp will provide an additional security layer to protect the backup chat histories on Google Drive. The chat backup will be encrypted with a password where neither Google or WhatsApp can access.

Status messages

WhatsApp users can put status messages on their profile, which can be viewed by anyone in your contacts list.

Ten features on Telegram everyone love

Cloud storage

Telegram offers cloud storage for its users to backup their chat histories such as images and files. Cloud storage provides the convenience of users when they log out and log in simultaneously on different devices. So, there is no worry about backup and restore of Telegram chat history. With cloud storage, you only need to upload your file once, and you can reshare the same file to someone else to save your data.

Quality of image

Telegram offers compression options for its users for both image and video files. When it comes to viewing, uncompressed images and video provide excellent quality.

Username

Telegram users can communicate with another Telegram User through username if one doesn't have a contact number.

Channel

A Telegram Channel has no limit on the number of members. The Creator, or administrator, of the channel, can decide who can post to a Channel, while Members can merely view the posts. Creating a Channel with only yourself allows you to do interesting activities as such, storing your notes and web links.

Available across almost every operating system

Telegram is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows PC, Mac OS X, Linux, and even through any web browser.

Secret chat

Secret chats are end-to-end encryption which can't be hacked. Additionally, with the self-destruct timer, messages will be destroyed after the set time.

Sticker packs and gifs

Telegram supports gif and Sticker packs based on their likings.

Chatbots

Telegram allows the inclusion of chatbots, which are AI users that can perform certain activities such as responding to a message or even take a poll in a group.

Telegram support force

Accessible through Telegram app, Telegram Support Force is a group of volunteers that help to solve Telegram users issues around the world.

Instant view

Initially designed for Telegraph files only, many popular websites like Medium has also adapted Instant View. Instant View allows users to open an article on a website in less than a second.

Is Telegram better than WhatsApp?

To sum things up between WhatsApp and Telegram, Telegram will earn more points. Of course, there still could be many other points which may be minor. Telegram offers experience with its cloud service while Whatsapp provides convenience when it comes to voice and video calls. Additionally, WhatsApp is making things challenging for many of its competitors with its new features.

Although Whatsapp has more users using the chat app, it doesn't mean that it is better than Telegram. Plus, WhatsApp has been questioned many times about its privacy. In comparison, Telegram is considered a more secured messaging app.

It is important to note that different people have different requirements. Therefore, everyone has their own opinions between WhatsApp and Telegram based on their needs. So, do you think Telegram will overtake Whatsapp, or Whatsapp will still remain the most popular messaging app?

The article was written by Soon Koon.

Will Telegram Overtake WhatsApp?