Just like in other years, we cannot imagine our lives in 2021 without a messaging app in our pocket. Whether we’re talking about business, educational, or entertainment purposes, messaging apps are used by pretty much anyone these days who also has an internet connection. Statistics show that only about 4.6 billion people worldwide are also active internet users, but we can hope that Elon Musk will solve that problem soon with the Starlink satellites.
As of March 2019, more than 41 million mobile messages are sent on the planet in one single online minute. If these numbers are too much for you, don’t worry! They’ll become even more imposing in the near future, as software engineers are constantly looking to improve their messaging apps. But if you’re still wondering what popular messaging app you should use in 2021, you could consider any of the proposals from this article:
- WhatsApp:
With about 2 billion users, WhatsApp is the kind of app that you’ll see running on pretty much any smartphone. It brings all the necessary features of a modern messaging app: video calls, audio/text messages, the possibility of sending your location to someone rapidly, end-to-end encryption, and a lot more. You can use WhatsApp on your mobile phone and computer using it’s dedicated desktop application, on WhatsApp Web or through Bluestacks Emulator.
- Facebook Messenger
Facebook owns the first two most popular messaging apps on the planet: WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The latter has ‘only’ about 1.3 billion users, and it focuses mainly on messages that someone sends to a Facebook profile. You can use Messenger to send payments to someone, use the ‘Watch Together’ feature, and of course: video calls. The list could continue, and you must also remember that anyone who has a Facebook profile (practically anyone) has all the interest to use the Facebook Messenger app.
- Telegram
When WhatsApp had a recent policy update that managed to upset a lot of users who didn’t want their data sent to Facebook, a lot of them switched to Telegram. That speaks alone for good an alternative Telegram can be, and most of its 400 million users can confirm it. Telegram offers live location & proximity alerts, scheduled and silent messages, unlimited personal cloud storage, and many more. Video and voice calls are also available, of course, and the official description from the Google Play Store claims that Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the planet.
- Snapchat
Snapchat is an app available only for Android and iOS devices. One of the core concepts of Snapchat is that any content someone sends (text, audio, video, etc.) will be made by default available to the receiver for a limited time. This app has about 500 million users, and it clearly deserves a chance to become your favorite messaging software.
- Viber
More than one billion people are using Viber, and there’s no wonder why. This app offers video calling, self-destructive messages, group calls, location sharing, and more. The developers of Viber claim that their software is the most secure messaging app, which means that you have to give it a try.
All the apps mentioned are free-of-charge. Although in general, popularity is not a synonym for quality, it doesn’t apply for messaging apps. You need to use the same app as your family, friends, co-workers, and other contacts in order to be able to communicate with them easily.
Juana loves to cover the tech and gaming industry, she always stays on the first row of CES conference and reports live from there.
