What Is Signal? Is Signal Safer than WhatsApp?

Are you a Whatsapp user? If yes, then you might have indeed heard about Signal as well, right? Whatsapp is one of the most commonly used platforms that allow users to send and receive messages, media files, documents, etc., over the internet. With Whatsapp out there, no one was in need of switching to any other platform for chatting, but with the recent updates in its privacy policy, Whatsapp has been facing a lot of heat, and people started looking for Whatsapp alternatives.

So, are Signal and Telegram apps good enough to replace Whatsapp? or Is Signal more secure than Whatsapp? We have got you covered with their answers, and here’s a detailed comparison between these famous online messaging applications!

What Is Signal / Signal Private Messenger?

The Signal is the latest member in the family of private messenger applications. Like Whatsapp, this instant messaging app allows users to send and receive messages like audio, video, text, documents, etc. The Signal application provides safe and secure chatting, video calls, voice calls, etc., all of which are end-to-end encrypted. You can easily create groups on Signal, but the application does not offer you the feature to broadcast messages to multiple people at once. In the recent updates, Signal has also added excellent support for group calling.

In order to know more about Signal, have a look at the list of its features below!

Highlights of Signal App

• Supports self disappearing messages.
• It uses back-end user-facing encryption services.
• Encrypts your metadata, thus offering multiple levels of security and privacy.
• Uses open-source Signal Protocol for implementing end-to-end encryption.
• Note to self to share your own ideas and thoughts without any need to create single-member groups.

This was all about “What is Signal”? Now, let’s move forward and get an insight into the uses of the Signal app!

Also Read: How to Recover Deleted Telegram Messages >

What Is the Signal App Used For?

With most of the features just like Whatsapp, Signal is used for the following purposes!

• Securely send and receive messages to any number worldwide
• It can be used to do voice and video calling
• You can create groups and chat with multiple people at once place
• Users can send self-disrupting messages that will automatically vanish after the desired time frame
• It can be used to write a “note to self” without any need to create a single person group
• You can share any kind of file, including video, audio, documents, etc.

As you can see that both Signal and Whatsapp uses are pretty similar, then how can one decide which one is better! Well, we have got an answer!

Also Read: How to Fix Singal Bad Encrypted Messages >

Signal Vs. WhatsApp / Which is Better, Signal or WhatsApp?

Both Signal and Whatsapp work as a private messenger, but there are certain things that make these apps differentiating! So, if you are confused regarding which of these applications is better for online chatting, then you can consider the following basis of comparison and decide!

• Vanishing Messages: Both Signal and Whatsapp offer the vanishing message feature. With this feature in the list, all the messages you will send in this mode disappear automatically after a specific time frame.
• End-to-End Encryption: All the messages sent and received on Whatsapp are end-to-end encrypted, which means that only the sender and the reader of the message can read the messages. But one thing to note here is that all the messages that are backed up on the cloud are not encrypted, which is risky.

Alternatively, Signal not only provides end-to-end encryption but also does not back up anything on the cloud. So, on Signal, there’s no way that the messages sent or received can be compromised.

• Chat Backup: Whatsapp comes with an automatic cloud backup feature that backs up all your chat history on third-party cloud services like iCloud and Google for free.

On the other hand, the Signal does not offer its users any sort of cloud backup feature and stores all the chat history and content locally on the device.

• Data Collected: Amongst both these two applications, Whatsapp collects the most amounts of data from its users that generally involves purchase history, device information, ad data, location, contacts, performance, and diagnostics, etc.

Whether it’s about vanishing messages, data collection, end-to-end encryption, or chat backup, Signal outperforms Whatsapp! So, it is pretty clear that Signal is much better than Whatsapp in terms of privacy and security. But it does not end here! Let’s just compare Signal and Telegram as well because when it comes to Whatsapp alternatives, Telegram also tops the list!

Signal Vs. Telegram

Here’s a brief comparison of Signal and Telegram on the basis of the same comparison features used for comparing Whatsapp and Signal!

• Vanishing Messages: You will get a vanishing message feature with both Signal and Telegram.
• End-to-End Encryption: Telegram does not use end-to-end encryption while sending and receiving messages. It just uses client-server encryption.

On the other hand, Signal provides end-to-end encryption and does not back up anything on the cloud.

• Chat Backup: Telegram does not provide backups, and instead, all of its chat histories is synced with its own channels and cloud content between devices.

Alternatively, Signal does not offer its users with cloud backup feature, and it stores all the chat history and content locally on the device.

• Data Collected: Unlike Whatsapp, both Signal and Telegram do not collect much user data, but still, Signal is considered to be a much safer and secure platform in terms of data protection.

From the above comparison between Signal and Telegram, it is quite clear that Signal is much better than Telegram for online messaging because it offers much more advanced and secured features than Telegram.

The Bottom Line

Here you have come to an end of a detailed comparison between popular private messenger applications. So, by now, you must have learned “What is Signal” and additionally you might be clear about “Is signal more secure than Whatsapp”! Whether it is Signal Vs. Whatsapp or Signal Vs. Telegram, Signal will always top the list because it offers its users absolute security and privacy. The Signal does not store any data, and this is the main reason why it is considered to be much secure and safe than Whatsapp and Telegram!