Will Telegram spell doom for WhatsApp?

Telegram, a messaging app, is fast catching up on the popularity charts for many Indians. Himanshu Juneja lists top features of the Russian-made Telegram that beats WhatsApp hands down.

In a world where WhatsApp has become synonymous with messaging, garnering 5 million users in a single day is no mean achievement. True, that it happened on a day when WhatsApp blacked out owing to server issues, the new app did made its mark as probably the most preferred alternative to WhatsApp.

Telegram, the new messaging app, made this strong pitch by covering some critical areas, which had been left out by the most popular messaging app. Calls for a more 'secure' and 'immune to takeover' messaging app have been growing louder ever since the news of NSA collecting data and later a takeover of
WhatsApp by Facebook emerged, and Telegram touched upon these areas like a pro.

Let's take a closer look at what the Telegram app is all about.

1. Launched on 14th August 2013, the app has been built by Nikolai Durov and Pavel Durov. The Durov brothers are not unknown in the cyber world, as they are also behind VKontakte, Russia's largest social network.

The Russian duo decided to establish the server for the app in Berlin, Germany.

The messaging app gained status of #1 downloaded app in several countries beating the likes of Facebook, Kik etc. Telegram's stellar record shines especially in the Spanish, Latin American and Arabic app stores.

2. Strikingly similar to WhatsApp in many aspects, the messaging app allows users to send across messages, videos and pictures. From Double tick marks as message delivery receipts, getting to see contact's online status, cartoon like wallpapers, attaching media files etc, the app straightaway makes the transition process of the users somewhat smoother.

Having the look and feel of the most popular app does brings its benefits.

3. The app's success is mainly attributed to the unique features it provides in comparison to the more popular rival WhatsApp. One such aspect is the security.

Telegram app covers the cryptographic aspect admirably. According to the Durovs, their main intent was to design an app which would be free of any interference from Russian security agencies. This lends immense credibility to the service.

Telegram has a feature which allows the user to start a 'Secret Chat' with friends. The feature provides end to end encryption for the exchange of data, which means no trace of the messages is left even on the company's servers.

There is also the ability to check the security of the secret chats, which is by sending an image which serves as an encryption key. By comparing the encryption key with that of friend's, users can verify that the conversation is secure and resistant to snooping or other attacks.

Users can even deploy self destruct messages, much similar to Snapchat.

The timer for automatic message removal ranges from two seconds to one week. The timer starts only after the message is received.

The company is so confident in the security of its MTProto protocol, that it offered $200,000 to anybody who could crack it.

4. Telegram's time taken for delivery of messages is lesser than WhatsApp's.

At times, many users have noticed a considerable lag in delivering the messages to the recipients, and the wait to see the double tick marks can be frustrating. If the message is urgent, the time taken can be a critical factor.

Telegram's reduced time interval hits WhatsApp where it hurts.

5. The Telegram messaging app is cloud based, which allows people to access the messages on various other devices. The app being based on Nikolai Durov's open-sourced MTProto protocol means that anybody can build a Telegram client of their own.

This makes accessing Telegram messages even on a desktop computer for convenience.

This provides another edge to the app, as WhatsApp can be run on a desktop only via an emulator.

6. The app is free of cost. According to the Dorov brothers, the very DNA of the service means that the app will remain free from the word go. Telegram app is supposed to be a non-profit organisation, and the firm remain staunchly committed to keep it that way.

7. No ads, no investor money, no sellouts.

This is another aspect of the underlying fundamentals for the app. The app is designed to provide a clean and uninterrupted experience to its users.

According to Nikolai Durov and Pavel Durov, if the app ever is in need for funds, they intend to ask for user donations rather than opting for in app advertisements or selling the app to any bigger firm.

This clearly seems to be a step to deride the step taken by WhatsApp which asks for one time fee and later was taken over by Facebook.

8. Larger group messaging

This is another advantage offered by the Telegram App. Group messaging is one of the strong points of WhatsApp, and Telegram improved upon it by allowing users to create larger groups in comparison.

WhatsApp's user limit is 30 per group, whereas Telegram allows users to create groups of more than 150 members.

9. No Voice clips

After the good part, here comes the bad one. Telegram falls short on this front when compared to WhatsApp. Sending voice clips/notes is a feature which comes in very handy at times, and this little yet important detail is missing from Telegram's resume.

With all the tick marks in the relevant boxes, Telegram's programmers will do well to include this feature on an ASAP basis.

10. No voice call

Although Telegram's main rival WhatsApp hasn't got this feature on board yet, there are a few other messaging apps which do offer this important option.

To make a strong claim to the leading messaging app's crown, Telegram should be aiming to get the voice call feature at the earliest. The sooner the better.