What is the best messengers? A new study by Stiftung Warentest answers this question. The testers examined 15 apps for Android and 15 apps for iOS.
Best Messenger: This is how it was tested
Stiftung Warentest evaluated the functions, the setup and use and the protection of privacy. The best messenger was determined as follows:
functions
- Variety and scope in text, image, audio and video messages as well as in telephony
- Additional functions such as sending file attachments, reading QR codes, sharing the location
setup and use
- Registration and installation (How many accounts can be used on one device? Are messages transferred to the new device when you change your mobile phone?)
- Technical versatility (How many characters can a message contain? Does the app also run on the PC?)
- Settings (How easy is it to personalize the app and the chat window?)
- Use of telephony (how good is the quality of the sound and image transmission?)
Protection of privacy
- Authentication and privacy (How well can access to the app be protected? Can users be blocked?)
- Encryption and data security (Is end-to-end encryption available?)
- data transmission behavior
This is the best messenger
Only four of the tested apps received a “Good”. According to Stiftung Warentest, the test winner is Signal with a grade of 2.3. It is therefore the best messenger. Signal is also “the best we have right now,” according to one expert.
| What is Signal? – Behind Signal is a charitable foundation – In 2018, WhatsApp founder Brian Acton donated $50 million to Signal – Signal is available as an app for Android and iOS – Signal is available as a desktop version for Windows, macOS and Linux |
With a final score of 2.6, WhatsApp only achieved a “satisfactory” rating. The biggest point of criticism here is the data protection declaration. The app belongs to Meta and exchanges its users’ data en masse within its own services.
Telegram did not issue a quality rating because the messenger is suspected of hardly or not at all deleting criminal content. This is also one of the reasons for us to delete Telegram.
However, the testers were not completely convinced of any application, as all of them had clear deficiencies in the data protection declaration.
Source: Stiftung Warentest, t-online