WhatsApp has undoubtedly gained immense popularity in our country, revolutionizing phone communication. However, it’s not the sole contender in its category. Telegram, a less popular application in Spain, possesses numerous features that enable it to compete with and even outperform WhatsApp in various aspects.
Despite the similarities in their functionality, these two applications have significant differences, prompting the question: Is Telegram a preferable alternative to WhatsApp?
Enhanced Privacy and Confidentiality
Both applications allow free message exchange, yet Telegram excels in this realm by offering self-destructing messages. These messages automatically disappear within a specified timeframe, ranging from two seconds to a month, on both the sender’s and receiver’s devices new social accounts.
Additionally, Telegram provides a secret chat option that relies on encrypted messages. These messages leave no trace on the application’s servers and cannot be forwarded. Consequently, Telegram gains an advantage in terms of privacy.
Expanded Group Chats
While both apps have expanded their group chat capabilities, the growth rate differs. WhatsApp groups now support up to 256 participants, while Telegram allows the creation of groups comprising up to 200,000 users. Moreover,Telegram grants new members, log in to Telegram and access to chat history upon joining.
Telegram group chats offer an added layer of privacy by only revealing your phone number to individuals in your phonebook. This preserves anonymity, as strangers will only see your name and photo if you choose to display them. Additionally, Telegram allows you to choose which contacts can add you to a group, unlike WhatsApp where anyone can add you unless blocked.
Ample Storage Capacity
Telegram provides virtually limitless storage capacity, accommodating documents and files up to 2 GB in size without any format restrictions. Conversely, WhatsApp’s storage is limited to multimedia formats.
Open Source
One advantage of Telegram is its open API and free protocol, which allows modification and redistribution of its source code. This openness enables platform improvement and expansion of functionalities.
Faster Performance
Telegram claims superior speed compared to WhatsApp due to its distributed server infrastructure. Instead of relying on a single server location, Telegram utilizes various data centers worldwide, enhancing overall performance.
Advanced Search Function
While WhatsApp allows keyword-based search for old messages, Telegram extends its search function by enabling username-based searches as well. This feature allows direct retrieval of all messages sent by a particular user, even in the absence of specific keywords.
Cloud-Based Service
Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram operates on a cloud-based platform with robust encryption. This allows users to access their messages across multiple devices simultaneously, including tablets and computers. Furthermore, Telegram facilitates the seamless sharing of an unlimited number of photos, videos, and files (such as doc, zip, mp3, etc.) up to 2 GB in size.
Chat History Recovery and Deletion
Telegram offers the option to reverse chat deletion, addressing concerns raised by users who accidentally deleted their conversations. The app now includes a detailed confirmation dialog and a 5-second window to restore deleted chats. After this timeframe, the chat is permanently deleted without any means of recovery.