In addition to new features, the model by which the application will be distributed among new users has also been changed. The company switched to an annual subscription, now forever, every year, the user will have to pay for the service. This will not affect old users, however, new ones will think about whether they are ready to pay for the service every year, and whether they should try something else, fortunately, there are many different good applications on the market that can be an alternative to WhatsApp.

Skype

Long before the popularity and appearance of the first smartphones, skype on desktop computers was already a great alternative to phone calls, and the time spent in the market allowed the company to build a large subscriber base. With the advent of smart phones and stable mobile Internet, Skype quickly and easily moved into a new area and became a very popular mobile service that allows you to save on calls and SMS.

For free

Tango Video Calls

The free application is Tango Video Calls, its users can send messages and make video calls to their friends via iPhone. The program is very popular among iOS device owners. After installation on the phone, it automatically connects to contacts from the address book, and one of the features of the service is the ability to work without registration.

For free

LINE

LINE is not just an app for making free calls and sending messages from your contacts in your phone's address book, but it's also an entire social network and chat, plus it can be extended with a few additional add-ons from other photo and drawing apps. The Line application was developed in Japan, and its main feature is that you will not find the usual emoticons there, instead of them, crazy kawaii emoticons that will easily bring new colors to communication with your friends.

For free

Group Me

The GroupMe app is a great WhatsApp alternative. The program allows you to easily create user groups from your contacts and exchange messages with them, in addition, there is a function for organizing voice conferences. Messages can be sent both to a specific user and to all members of the group, and they can be sent via the Internet, or in the form of regular SMS (if an Internet connection cannot be established or it is of poor quality).

For free

Chat ON

A convenient service for messaging ChatON from Samsung. The application allows you to easily and simply communicate with other users, is no different, but can be a good alternative to the WhatsApp service. ChatON makes it possible to talk both with one person and communicate in a group, in chat mode. In the application, you can create animated messages, write notes by hand, draw pictures and send photos and audio files.

For free

Viber

Viber is a service that is about as popular as WhatsApp. Viber has similar functionality, it allows not only to correspond between users, but also to make free voice calls from one iPhone to another, as well as to smartphones with other operating systems: Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. The application can be downloaded for free, the service provides a very high voice quality and stable operation in Wi-Fi and 3G networks. After installing and verifying the app, Viber will sync with your contacts on your phone and show you which of your friends have already installed the app.

For free

In light of the latest news on the sale of the WhatsApp messenger to Facebook (the deal went through, Zuckerberg's company will pay $ 4 billion in cash and 12 billion shares for the messenger), users will probably have to look for backup moves. After all, it is not known whether Facebook will leave the competitor “afloat” or, after some time, quietly close the project and absorb the WhatsApp development team (why keep…

In light of the latest news on the sale of the WhatsApp messenger to Facebook (the deal went through, Zuckerberg's company will pay $ 4 billion in cash and 12 billion shares for the messenger), users will probably have to look for backup moves. After all, it is not known whether Facebook will leave the competitor “afloat” or after some time quietly close the project and absorb the WhatsApp development team (why keep a competitor with 450 million users at your side?). Therefore, we decided to offer you 5 messenger programs that can replace WhatsApp in case of failure.

1.XMS

XMS is developed by the Dutch company Ebuddy and has already managed to acquire a decent audience. Ebuddy has no less features than WhatsApp, plus a more interesting interface. It is possible to send messages from PC and Mac devices. So it does not matter if there is no mobile device at hand, you are always in touch.

2. Message ME

MessageMe is relatively new but already available on most platforms. Again, a lot of attention was paid to the interface. It is made strictly in the style of Holo. As you might expect, the main features in place are all sorts of emoticons, sending pictures and videos.

3. KIK Messenger

This contender already has over 100 million users and is the fastest and easiest messenger for smartphones. Kik doesn't use your phone number, so you don't have to worry about your safety. It also has everything for sharing information - sending messages, photos, videos, even a built-in browser for easier browsing.

4. Facebook Messenger

I hope there is no need to explain anything here, this application is from the Facebook company itself. Of course, a Facebook account is required. But the advantage is that the message can be sent from anywhere, from a mobile platform or from a computer. Not without flaws, but lately it has become very beautiful.

I decided to write this short post after reading exler review "4talk - a fundamentally new cloud messenger", which tells about the messenger, in a number of ways more interesting than the popular WhatsApp and Viber. I constantly and actively correspond, but I haven’t used WhatsApp, Viber, or this new 4talk for a long time, and I don’t plan to. There is a more convenient way, it's strange that no one talks about it, preferring some additional applications.

The article and comments to it correctly point out some of the weak points of popular instant messengers: Skype does not synchronize history via the cloud, WhatsApp and Viber cannot work [without dancing] on more than one device, and are not designed for devices without a SIM card. 4talk stands out against this background due to cloudiness and history can be read on all devices. In addition, it allows you to send geo-position, documents and photos from the device to another subscriber.

What prevents you from using Vkontakte as a messenger? I rarely meet people who don't have an account there. Less than those who do not have Viber or WhatsApp, and even iMessage is not connected. Once again, there is a feeling that the possibilities of the social network are somehow underestimated. Compared with the described messengers, Vkontakte has all the main features - sending simple text messages, an impressive gallery of emoticons, transferring photos and documents. You can attach your location to the message (and it will open in the maps on the device) to conveniently tell your friends where to come and where you are. You can even attach music and videos, including those shot directly on the device. Message notifications come in the same way as SMS, and messages from the same messengers. You can immediately understand what is read and what is not.

Group chats are also well organized there, I took part in several projects that used chats via VK for discussions by a group of specialists. There were no complaints about how it works.

AND, The main thing, unlike messengers, Vkontakte is a much more multiplatform thing. Want to reply from iOS, five minutes later from Android, and then from a tablet? No problem. Chat from laptop or computer? It also works. Simultaneously, from two hands, from different gadgets, including those where there are no SIM cards? No problem.

Forgot your device at home or the battery is dead? You can access VK from any device that has a browser - a computer, laptop, tablet. Even in a public place or from a friend's device. Your history is always stored on the server, and you can open it after as much time as you like.

And, judging by the fact that the web interface already has the ability to make video calls, sooner or later it will also be added to the mobile client.

So why, tell me, use scanty messengers?

P.S. For those who do not use VK, Facebook is suitable for the same purposes. He can do a little, but not by much.

4 WhatsLock - protects correspondence from prying eyes

WhatsLock - protects correspondence from prying eyes

The program became more secure after the developers turned on encryption, but it does not help in situations where someone simply takes a smartphone, launches the application and reads all the correspondence as much as they want.

WhatsLock protects in just such situations by adding a password in the form of a PIN code or a picture that must be entered or drawn on the screen every time the application is launched. An additional option is the ability to organize a fake WhatsApp client that will run by default and mask even the presence of a PIN code.

3 Dashdow - "talking heads" for whatsapp

Dashdow - "talking heads" for whatsapp

Facebook was the first to come up with this design “trick”, and since then it has been copied by everyone who is not lazy, except for WhatsApp (which, by the way, belongs to Facebook). This application corrects this misunderstanding. The windows are flexibly configured and turned off in two touches if the conversation has become so intense that it has become inconvenient to surf the Web and communicate at the same time.

2 DashClock - messages on the lock screen

DashClock - messages on the lock screen

Many Android chat apps can display fresh messages on the lock screen, but not WhatsApp. This program solves the problem by essentially adding a message widget to the system on the screen of a locked device.

It is worth considering that this solution is absolutely unsafe - even if the smartphone has a password on the lock screen, anyone will see a fresh message by simply picking up the phone. In general, this is something directly opposite to WhatsLock, so only those who really have nothing to hide from their parents or soulmates should use it.

1 Cleaner for WhatsApp - gets rid of junk

Cleaner for WhatsApp - gets rid of junk

Finally, the last useful program that WhatsApp developers should buy and build into their brainchild is Cleaner for WhatsApp. True to its name, it cleans up any garbage that WhatsApp leaves on the system. All these old videos, photos (and much more) that are no longer needed and are only taking up space. The program has a simple, unobtrusive and bright interface, understandable even to those who are not very friendly with English and computers.

WhatsApp has long been the "people's" messenger in Russia. Ease of use, the ability to create large chat groups, the import of videos, music and photos from various social networks and the possibility of free online calls conquered the audience, which is why in our country they often do not even look towards other similar applications. At the same time, more than one WhatsApp alternative has appeared on the market, which may be more suitable for user requests. In this article, we will analyze the main messengers on the market today in terms of their features, advantages and disadvantages.

Viber

A few years ago, Viber almost snatched the lead in the messenger race from WhatsApp. The application first introduced the possibility of free video calls, which attracted millions of users around the world. This was followed by bans in several countries for security reasons, the introduction of paid calls and a general exodus of users. Viber was not hit hard by all these difficulties. The application has been developing well in the direction of social services, the opportunity has opened up to maintain your own microblogs here, which is why you can now subscribe to almost everything that interests you personally. Viber is especially convenient for the service sector, because here you can now often book a table in a restaurant, find out about discounts in your favorite stores, and even inquire about the status of your account with your Internet provider.

Viber Benefits:

1. Security. All your private calls and correspondence are protected with an end-to-end connection, i.e. the fact of your negotiations is recorded only on the devices of the negotiators.
2. Great look. Viber is the most beautiful messenger on the market. This can be seen both in the design of the application itself, and in the drawing of all kinds of stickers, emoticons and animations. For connoisseurs of the beautiful Viber - no alternative choice.
3. The presence of a large amount of interesting content, in addition to communication: here you have representative offices of TV channels and the media, and various microblogs, and a bunch of companies represented here.

Disadvantages of Viber:

1. Compared to the same vatsap, Viber often seems “overloaded”. Beginners and inexperienced users of mobile devices can find it difficult to figure out what's what.
2. Some features are paid.

Telegram is the brainchild of Pavel Durov, who once created the social network Vkontakte. For a long time, Telegram boasted of its exceptional security, advertised as a messenger that could not be hacked. And this is the absolute truth, only recently both WhatsApp and Viber have advanced so much in their security that it has ceased to be a unique Telegram selling proposition. By this point, however, Telegram has become almost a secular hangout place for the advanced part of the Russian blogosphere, so this is where all the biggest insiders, political battles and other intellectual movements take place.

And more recently, Telegram has also introduced the possibility of calls, which finally equalized it with competitors.

Advantages of Telegram

1. The most secure messenger on the market. One has only to mark your chat as "secure conversation", and it will become literally invisible to everyone else.
2. Simple and beautiful design. Telegram is very easy to learn and really fun to use.
3. An overwhelming amount of user-generated content. Here you have anonymous blogs, and various homemade sticker sets, and game bots.

Disadvantages of Telegram

1. A huge number of scandals in our press led to the fact that Telegram partially made concessions in its cryptographic system. Therefore, now, to protect data, you have to press a special “secure conversation” button, otherwise your correspondence could potentially be hacked.
2. Poor search for social services, they have to go from links from third-party resources.

snapchat

A teenage messenger for those whose communication takes place mainly on an emotional level. Snapchat allows people to connect with various video embeds, photo overlays and other cute things that some segments of the population just happen to need.

Benefits of Snapchat:

1. "Developed Chats". Lots of opportunities for communication through stickers, video inserts, edited photos.
2. Cool application design and its general "subculture".

Disadvantages of Snapchat:

1. Big anonymity issues - Snapchat just isn't made for it.
2. The "heaviness" of the messenger, which simply refuses to work for many users of weak smartphones.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of worthy alternatives to the glorious WhatsApp. Choose which messenger you like more in terms of functions and interface.