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Users are increasingly looking for alternatives to the large messenger services
Photo: Hans Lucas / imago images
They come in waves, the news that it's time to leave WhatsApp and switch to less data hungry apps.
The latest trigger is a (now postponed) change in the terms of use, which caused an uproar.
Even if the change does not mean an increased exchange between Facebook and WhatsApp, especially for EU citizens, many use the opportunity to look around for alternatives.
We have put together all the information below that you need to decide which messenger is right for you:
Explanation of the most important terms
End-to-end encryption Up arrow Down arrow
The encryption determines who can read the content of the messages.
End-to-end encryption means: only the sender and the recipient can do this. The content cannot be read the entire way in between.
Even the messenger service does not know what the users are writing - and can therefore neither use this information commercially nor publish it if the security authorities request it.
Metadata Up Arrow Down Arrow
They tell you who is communicating where, when and with whom, not what's in the news.
Metadata also contains a lot of information that can be sensitive: when dissidents contact journalists, metadata shows firstly that they did it and secondly when and where the contact took place, but not what they wrote.
Open Source Up Arrow Down Arrow
This means that the app's source code is publicly available.
This allows users to review the code, extend it, or develop their own apps based on the code.
1. WhatsApp
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Still by far the most popular messenger: WhatsApp
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
In Germany alone, WhatsApp had 58 million daily active users in September 2019, according to its parent company Facebook.
WhatsApp once replaced SMS / MMS as the leading text messaging service and was a revolution at the time: unlimited messages, including pictures for free.
The company was bought by Facebook in 2014 for a total of $ 19 billion, a company that has lost a lot of trust over the years.
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