WhatsApp Reviews

In the bad old days, SMS packages were expensive and if you used up your allotted amount, you could easily be charged exorbitantly. Forget about group conversations or easy chats with people in other countries. The solution was the top messengers that used your data connection to send text messages, and WhatsApp was the first mobile messaging platform to gain critical mass. It has since been acquired by Meta (formerly Facebook), upgraded its security, and then entered a long period of mild stagnation that ended recently. With a superior technology base and a large built-in audience, WhatsApp’s future is starting to look bright.

Can you trust WhatsApp?
Trust is the foundation of any secure messaging application, and WhatsApp has done a lot to earn your trust. For one thing, it’s built on a tried-and-tested signaling protocol for sending and receiving end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messages. This means that only the sender and intended recipient can read messages on this service. Not even the folks at WhatsApp (and Meta) can read your messages. Other messengers, such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram, only have the option of E2EE in certain circumstances, but for WhatsApp and Signal, this is the default option.

WhatsApp’s encryption scheme comes with a caveat for any communications with businesses. As described in WhatsApp’s disastrous privacy policy update, WhatsApp and others may be able to see what you say in any interactions with corporate accounts. In reality, this anomaly isn’t a problem, but whenever there’s an encryption anomaly, things get confusing.

The fact that WhatsApp is owned by Meta (Facebook again) makes it difficult to fully recognize the messenger, and Meta continues to be plagued by scandals about the amount of data the company collects on its users. Recently, it was discovered that Meta has no control over what its corporate partners do with your data. For now, the divide between WhatsApp and its corporate overlords seems to be serious, but that could change in the future.

WhatsApp has gone to great lengths to explain Meta’s insights into WhatsApp’s activities, which are frequently mentioned in WhatsApp’s privacy policy and there’s an entire FAQ article dedicated to the topic. According to WhatsApp, Meta can’t see your contacts or messages, but Meta can see your phone number, IP address, and any interactions with businesses on WhatsApp. That’s a lot of identifying information.

WhatsApp is also home to former partners, old OKCupid dates, former managers and coworkers, and a long list of other people I never plan to talk to again.

Another challenge for any secure messenger is the ongoing attacks on encryption systems by government and law enforcement. Writing about the extent to which the police or FBI can spy on you used to be very difficult, but that’s all changed since the FBI released a handy document. According to this list, it’s possible for the FBI to access the content of messages if the target is using an iPhone with iCloud backups enabled. whatsApp is the only service with such a warning. Now that Apple has announced that it will encrypt iCloud backups end-to-end, this may no longer be an issue, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Keep in mind that this document does not cover information that law enforcement can collect using forensic analysis tools designed to circumvent security features.

Getting Started with WhatsApp
You can install the WhatsApp app on most mobile and desktop devices and access it through a web portal. Previously, you needed to keep your phone nearby and online to use the connected WhatsApp app, but fortunately that’s no longer the case. However, like Signal and Telegram, you will need a valid phone number to set up a WhatsApp account. All of these apps are designed to protect your messages, not anonymous texting – although Editor’s Choice winner Signal is working on an account system that’s at least partially separate from the phone number.

As with other messengers, WhatsApp will remind you to access your contact list. If you don’t, you can receive messages and reply to them, but you won’t be able to create new chats or group chats.There are some limitations to the use of Telegram, while Signal lets you manually enter a number to send a message to someone. To its credit, WhatsApp seems to do a pretty good job of keeping its contact list private, using encrypted hashes rather than storing phone numbers on its servers. After the navigation screen threw me into a loop that rendered the app unusable, I eventually caved in and allowed the app to access my contacts.

If you’re like me and have been using the same phone number for 15 years, then you’ll probably find that everyone you’ve ever interacted with is using WhatsApp. it’s shocking compared to my experience with Telegram and Signal. These services have grown tremendously in recent years, but none of them can match WhatsApp.

I admit, I was excited. But that giddiness quickly turned to discomfort as I realized that WhatsApp was also populated by ex-partners, old OKCupid dates, ex-managers and coworkers, and a long list of other people I never intended to talk to again. Thankfully, you can block anyone who sends you messages on WhatsApp (and report spam bots, of which there are many), and you can pre-block them in Settings > Privacy > Blocked Contacts. Contacts” in Settings > Privacy > Block Users.

Even longtime WhatsApp users will be well-served by revisiting the settings as the service rolls out some important behind-the-scenes changes. For example, you can move your account to a new phone number or enable multiple authentication from the Accounts section. The Chat Backup section of the Chat Settings allows you to use E2EE to protect your backups, but WhatsApp still advises users not to back up their chats to iCloud, which may change as Apple updates its iCloud backups.

Chats and Groups on WhatsApp
Like most messaging platforms, WhatsApp places conversations in cartoon speech bubbles, with your posts on the right and recipients on the left. You can opt in or out of read receipts from Settings, as well as change the background of the chat.WhatsApp now allows you to block screenshots of images marked for one-time viewing, and you can set a default message duration, giving you greater control over your messages.

The buttons next to the text field at the bottom make it easy to spice up your conversations with images, videos and short bursts of audio. You can also send files (up to 2GB), share contact information, and attach GPS locations to messages. The three-dot menu provides an overview of all shared media in a particular chat.

On Android, you tap on the smiley icon to see emoticons, a menu of reaction GIFs, and most importantly: WhatsApp’s surprisingly powerful collection of static and animated stickers. You can browse the list of saved stickers, add new ones, and download apps to add new ones. It’s a much more active community than the one Signal fosters, though the app offers privacy guarantees for its stickers that other apps can’t.

WhatsApp recently introduced personalized avatars. The editor is surprisingly powerful, vaguely reminiscent of Meta’s VR avatar – albeit with arms and legs. Oddly, the option is hidden on the Account Settings page, and WhatsApp doesn’t have Apple Messages-style real-time filters or AR masks.

There are several other types of messages. Status takes a page from Instagram Reels and lets you create short videos that expire after 24 hours. You can send photos, videos, GIFs, text, or links as status messages and add embellishments using the built-in image editor. Before sending your status, you can specify who can or can’t see it, so you can share the latest and greatest emojis with your grandmothers.WhatsApp says it’s rolling out voice-only status messages, but they weren’t yet available when we tested the app.

You can find Broadcast in the three-dot menu. It is essentially a blind carbon copy message that allows you to send the same message to multiple recipients as a one-on-one conversation. It is convenient for things like holiday messages and can avoid strangers getting uncomfortable replying to all conversations. Broadcast is limited to 256 people and is saved as a list for reuse, although they can be easily confused with group chats.

Signal recently adopted tools such as status or broadcast and its story feature. Prior to this, it focused on secure groups and one-on-one voice, video, and messaging. Meanwhile, Telegram has added various other options such as Twitch-style live streaming, public and private blogs, and community groups. Telegram’s development comes at a cost; it has always been at the center of world events but has also been a haven for misinformation and fringe groups.

In November 2022, WhatsApp introduced new community features. These chats are designed for larger, broader audiences using additional management tools. They can support up to 1024 users and video calls of up to 32 people. Although available for several months, I have not found useful community discovery tools. While Telegram does make searching for groups easier, finding active and relevant groups is not easy. Perhaps the best way is to organically connect through word of mouth.

Creating a group in WhatsApp is very simple. You can select people from your contacts, name the group, and start sending messages to them. By default, the person who creates the group is the administrator, and the administrator can make other group members administrators at any time. Administrators can manually add new members later, or export a QR code or other shareable link that invitees can use to join the group. You can also set a timer to determine how long messages in each group will last, which I appreciate. WhatsApp also has some other useful settings, similar in scope to Signal, such as limiting posts to members you choose. Telegram provides you with finer-grained control over group permissions, but it’s worth noting that any group message delivery in Telegram does not use E2EE.

WhatsApp can be used for shopping and communicating with brands and businesses, in addition to chatting with friends. I haven’t tested these features, but a PCMag employee who spent a lot of time outside the US mentioned that contacting businesses via WhatsApp is very common in some areas. Businesses often use WhatsApp instead of email to stay in touch with customers, send them promotional messages, or communicate with them directly during the purchase and delivery process.

It’s important to remember that conversations with brands do not use E2EE, which means that Meta or others may be able to view and learn from them. WhatsApp also supports encrypted payments in the US, but you need to create an account with a specific encryption service. I haven’t tested these features, but Signal and Telegram have similar features.

When I updated this review a year or two ago, I was surprised to find that WhatsApp had changed so little since my last use. Even WhatsApp’s website displayed phone models from years ago, including the discontinued Windows Phone platform. That has changed now. A series of new features have been launched at an astonishing pace, adding a lot of new functionality, and even the WhatsApp website has undergone much-needed renovation. Although the application interface is still a bit outdated, this is likely to mean that WhatsApp’s dormant period is over, and we will continue to see new innovative features.

WhatsApp voice and video chat Each chat or group chat can be used to initiate a new voice or video call. Afterward, the “Calls” section of the main screen will record your calls for easy access in the future. According to WhatsApp’s documentation, video calls can support up to 32 participants at most.

WhatsApp has recently improved its video calling experience, and I will update this review once I have the opportunity to use it.

In my test, I called my colleague Michael Muchmore, who answered the call on his personal computer. The sound and video quality were very good, although I strongly suspect that the results may vary depending on your network conditions and hardware.

Group calls are similar to Discord, where all group members can see that the call has started and can come and go as they please. I prefer Discord’s dedicated video chat channels.

An excellent messaging app… with a caveat WhatsApp is a rock-solid messaging app that uses end-to-end encryption by default for all chats and group chats. It provides a great way for people and businesses to stay in touch with almost everyone. Although it has maintained a fairly good level for a while, a series of updates and refreshes have brought new features that can compete with most competitors. In the most popular secure messaging platforms, WhatsApp remains a powerful force solely based on its widespread use, and new features clearly indicate that the service has a future.

In terms of privacy and security, WhatsApp is a bit complicated. By default, your messages between other users are E2EE, but not when you send messages to businesses. The app can use E2EE to create secure backups of accounts and messages, but if configured incorrectly, these backups may be monitored. The app does a pretty good job of informing you about these quirks.

WhatsApp’s ownership raises concerns and questions about the privacy and security of the app’s future. Meta has received a large amount of personal data from every WhatsApp user and is actively seeking to integrate its messaging platforms, but not all platforms are as easy to use E2EE. In addition, Meta has always been very keen on collecting customer data for advertising targeting, and it is hard to imagine that the company does not have the same feeling about WhatsApp’s huge user base.

If you want to lock down your conversations, you should use our Editor’s Choice award winner Signal. So far, its lineage as a secure messenger is unparalleled.

Finally, WhatsApp has some compromises, but far fewer than Telegram. The advantage is that you may not have to convince anyone to use it.