Worried about WhatsApp? A look at the popular alternative Signal

WhatsApp has revised its privacy policy, which has sparked concern given the data sharing with Facebook and its partner companies. The new privacy policy has certainly caused a lot more people to consider alternatives to WhatsApp. The Signal app for instance has seen a meteoric rise in its popularity, and has topped the charts on iOS, driven by an increase in downloads from India. Another popular alternative to WhatsApp is Telegram, which while it is not end-to-end encrypted across the app, continues to gain new users. Finally, there’s Viber, which has been a popular app, before WhatsApp started dominating. Here’s a detailed look at these three messaging apps and what you need to keep in mind.

Signal

Signal beats WhatsApp to become top free app on App Store in India: Here's the proof

Trust

"I use Signal every day."

Edward Snowden
Whistleblower and privacy advocate

"I trust Signal because it’s well built, but more importantly, because of how it’s built: open source, peer reviewed, and funded entirely by grants and donations. A refreshing model for how critical services should be built."

Jack Dorsey
CEO of Twitter and Square

"Signal is the most scalable encryption tool we have. It is free and peer reviewed. I encourage people to use it everyday."

Laura Poitras
Oscar-winning filmmaker and journalist

"I am regularly impressed with the thought and care put into both the security and the usability of this app. It's my first choice for an encrypted conversation."

Bruce Schneier
Internationally renowned security technologist

Why use Signal?

Explore below to see why Signal is a simple, powerful, and secure messenger 

Share Without Insecurity

State-of-the-art end-to-end encryption (powered by the open source Signal Protocol) keeps your conversations secure. We can't read your messages or listen to your calls, and no one else can either. Privacy isn’t an optional mode — it’s just the way that Signal works. Every message, every call, every time.

Say Anything

Share text, voice messages, photos, videos, GIFs and files for free. Signal uses your phone's data connection so you can avoid SMS and MMS fees.

Speak Freely

Make crystal-clear voice and video calls to people who live across town, or across the ocean, with no long-distance charges.

Make Privacy Stick

Add a new layer of expression to your conversations with encrypted stickers. You can also create and share your own sticker packs.

Get Together with Groups

Group chats make it easy to stay connected to your family, friends, and coworkers.

No ads. No trackers. No kidding.

There are no ads, no affiliate marketers, and no creepy tracking in Signal. So focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you.

Free for Everyone

Say "hello" to privacy.

Millions of people use Signal every day for free and instantaneous communication anywhere in the world. Send and receive high-fidelity messages, participate in HD voice/video calls, and explore a growing set of new features that help you stay connected. Signal's advanced privacy-preserving technology is always enabled, so you can focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you.

• Say anything - State-of-the-art end-to-end encryption (powered by the open source Signal Protocol) keeps your conversations secure. Privacy isn't an optional mode - it's just the way that Signal works. Every message, every call, every time.

• Go fast - Messages are delivered quickly and reliably, even on slow networks. Signal is optimized to operate in the most constrained environment possible.

• Feel free - Signal is a completely independent 501c3 nonprofit. Development is supported by users like you. No advertisements. No trackers. No kidding.

Be yourself - You can use your existing phone number and address book to securely communicate with your friends.

• Speak up - Whether they live across town or across the ocean, Signal's enhanced audio and video quality will make your friends and family feel closer.

• Whisper in the shadows - Switch to the dark theme if you refuse to see the light.

• Sound familiar - Choose custom alerts for each contact, or disable noises completely. Simon & Garfunkel wrote a hit song about it in 1964, and you can experience the sound of silence whenever you want by choosing "None" as your notification ringtone.

• Picture this - Use the built-in image editing features to sketch, crop, and flip your outgoing photos. There's even a text tool so that you can add more words to the 1,000 that your picture is already worth