by Users over the years have been involved in an unpopular debate between Telegram vs Signal as to which of the platforms is better. There are a lot of features and factors which make users choose the ideal messaging platform they could use to connect and communicate with their friends and family. Some of these factors could be privacy, features, ease of use and many more. Whatsapp has been one of the popular messaging platforms and due to some reasons, users might be seeking other free messaging alternatives that present them with the features they require as well as make sure that their data and information are safe. So if you are considering using Signal and Telegram as an alternative to Whatsapp and you are torn between choosing which one is better than the two- this article might help you out with that. Telegram and Signal are messaging apps that somehow share similarities but are also different in many ways. This article will compare the two apps, and show you some similarities and differences based on privacy and security, features, data storage, ease of use as well as other factors you need to know in order for you to choose which one best suits your needs.
Telegram vs Signal
Similarities Between Telegram and Signal
Telegram and Signal are both messaging applications that are compatible with other devices such as Android, iOS, Windows, Mac etc. Users can use Telegram and Signal applications to send messages, pictures and videos, transfer files, use stickers and also make voice and video calls. Signal and Telegram are not owned by big tech companies. The signal is owned by a non-profit organization while Telegram is owned by a company that is for profit.
Telegram vs Signal Privacy and Security
Both Telegram and Signal applications boast of being private and secure but both apps handle privacy in different ways. When it comes to security, Signal is better than Telegram because all messages sent on Signal are end–to–end encrypted and your messages is only accessible to you and the person you are chatting with – the company doesn’t even have access to your messages. With the Signal ‘sealed sender’ feature, the ability to figure out who is sending or who is receiving messages is disabled. This ‘sealed sender’ feature hides your IP address in your sealed messages and the non-contacts and people you haven’t shared your profile with cannot see who is sending the message. Users can self destruct messages on the signal by setting the message or chat to self-destruct after sometime and it will disappear. Also, the data Signal collects from users is much less than that which Telegram collects and Signal only stores the date which the account was created and when the user last connected. There is also a feature in Signal which users can use to blur the faces of images automatically.
Telegram on the other hand offers optional end–to–end encryption and this security feature doesn’t come as a default setting. User’s messages are open for Telegram servers to see. However, the ‘secret chat’ feature on Telegram allows its users to get some form of privacy protection for their messages. This ‘secret chat’ feature cannot be used on a group chat and users cannot access their secret chat if they log in from another device you can also lose all your secret chat if you log out. Telegram needs to access your contacts before you can start messaging anyone unlike Signal where people can start chatting simply by typing the person’s number. When you have a Signal account, people cannot see if you are online or not but Telegram users can activate their last seen and online feature.
Ease of use
Sending messages with Telegram and Signal with ease is almost the same. Both apps can be used to send messages, pictures, videos and files to others. Installation of both app is pretty easy and can be gotten simply by downloading the app and registering using phone number. You don’t necessarily need to have a person’s contact before you can receive messages from people using both apps.
Features
The aesthetic features of Telegram is more than that of Signal because Telegram has more vibrant stickers, wall papers and background compared to Signal. You can customize and personalize your Telegram account using cool emojis, animations, font size, colour themes, as well as notifications. You can also join quizzes and run polls on Telegram. Telegram is also pretty easy to use compared to Signal. Both Signal and Telegram users can create group chats which can include a large number of users with up to 1000 users for Signal and up to 20,000 group members for Telegram. As for the security feature, Signal is much better than Telegram because it offers end–to–end encryption that keeps its users information secured and safe.
Data Storage
Signal doesn’t store data, logs or information of its users. Including the user’s contacts, location, name, conversations; the only data Signal store is its user’s phone number but Telegram has access to user’s contacts and ID. Data can also be backed up on Telegram on the Telegram cloud unless the data is a Telegram ‘secret chat’ and due to this feature, your information is easily accessible by Telegram.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there’s really no need for the argument on Telegram vs Signal as to which is better as both apps have strong features that make them unique and this depends on your desires and what you want from a messaging app. When it comes to security, Signal is the best option to use but if you need an application where you can use amazing stickers and customization features that will make your chatting experience fun and if you want an app that has a higher fan base, then you might want to consider using Telegram.
