The best messaging apps in 2022

The finest encrypted messaging applications can assist you in safeguarding your personal information. They make it difficult for anybody else, including (in most cases) the individuals who manage the applications, to listen in on your private conversations and calls. Some of these apps are created and maintained by large companies, while others are handled by small businesses.
Even government intelligence organizations and law enforcement agencies can’t break into several of the finest encrypted chat apps. Signal, Threema, WhatsApp, and others use end-to-end encryption, which means that only the sender and recipient of a message or call can see or hear the content.

Notes: Although Apple’s iMessage protocol uses end-to-end encryption, the Messages app, which displays the encrypted messages, also processes unencrypted SMS text messages. According to this FBI training material, if you allow iCloud backups on your iPhone, law enforcement may be able to read parts of your iMessage and WhatsApp chats.

Here are some of the top encrypted texting applications for Android and iOS right now:

Signal (available on Android and iOS)

For security-conscious mobile users, Signal is a superb communications tool. It’s a free all-in-one texting, voice-calling, and group-chat app that employs its own end-to-end encryption system.
Text messages, voice calls, group messaging, media, and attachments may all be sent to your phone contacts without the use of PIN codes or specific login credentials. Signal group video conversations can now have up to 40 members, thanks to recent revisions that brought user-friendly features like custom backdrops and animated stickers.
Signal messages can all be set to self-destruct after a particular period of time has passed. Signal may also be used on your desktop thanks to a Chrome browser plugin.

Signal accounts can be transferred from one Android phone to another, as well as from one iOS device to another. As long as you stay on the same device, a new upgrade allows you to change phone numbers while maintaining your Signal account data.

Threema (available on Android and iOS for $3.99)

Threema is a highly secure end-to-end encrypted messaging software that protects your messages with the NaCl cryptography library.
The software provides a unique Threema ID key when you start it up, allowing you to use it fully anonymously – no names required. If you like, you can link your account to an email address or phone number, making it easier for other Threema users to find you.
If you encounter other Threema users in person but don’t want to exchange names, you’ll also obtain a scannable QR code to show them.

The software provides file sharing (20MB per file), emoticons, group messaging, and a polling system for receiving input from friends and contacts, in addition to the typical raft of messaging services like as encrypted text, phone, picture, and video messaging.
While several other secure-messaging apps that haven’t attained the same levels of acceptance as WhatsApp or Telegram have shifted their focus to the enterprise market to keep viable, Threema remains firmly rooted in the consumer market. It is financially possible to do so by charging a few dollars for the app.

WhatsApp (available on Android and iOS for Free)

Since 2016, WhatsApp, the world’s most popular standalone chat and call software, has implemented Signal’s end-to-end encryption protocol on all messages.
Its creators are constantly tweaking the app’s security and privacy features, including as fine-tuned group invitations and controls, so you know who is viewing your group chats at all times.
The software is also experimenting with transferring chat history between iOS and Android phones, as well as using a single account on four separate devices at the same time. WhatsApp has received updates that enable end-to-end encrypted backups and the ability to make vanishing chats your default. You can also move your chat history from iPhone to Android, and an Android-to-iPhone transfer capability is on the way, according to the iOS beta.

WhatsApp was purchased by Facebook in 2014, and the company eventually betrayed its pledge to WhatsApp’s founders that it would not “monetize” the service. (One of the founders co-founded Signal.) Although certain WhatsApp user behavioral data is being shared with Facebook, this has increased demand for WhatsApp alternatives, but communications remain completely private.

Telegram (available on Android and iOS for Free)

Telegram, like Signal and WhatsApp, allows users to link their phone number to a Telegram account in order to exchange quick, encrypted messages over the internet, using client-server encryption for basic chats.
Telegram, on the other hand, is much more than a messaging app. It has evolved into a global social media network with large user groups and broadcasts that allow accounts to reach millions of followers in a matter of seconds. It may be used for a lot more than just secure messaging.
Telegram, on the other hand, does not activate end-to-end encryption by default. You’ll need to switch to Secret Chat mode to get it. You may self-destruct messages, share movies and documents, and join group chats with up to 200,000 people. (Yes, Telegram does support such massive group chats.) Chats with more than two participants, on the other hand, will not be encrypted end-to-end.

Silent Phone (available on Android on iOS for $9.95 per month)

Silent Circle is a reputable provider of encrypted video and phone calls, as well as encrypted, self-destructing messaging and file transfers.
While your encrypted messages may flow through Silent Circle’s network, the firm cannot read your data because encryption keys are owned by subscribers, not by Silent Circle.
The disadvantage is the relatively expensive cost. The Silent Circle app is free to download, but you must pay $9.95 every month to use it. Silent Circle is designed for business customers who require complete privacy for their work. As a result, you’re unlikely to come across many people who use it for personal contact.