Signal vs. Telegram: Which messaging app is safer?

Since the news about Whatsapp sharing data with Facebook, users have started to look for more secure alternatives as their main messaging app and the two apps that stand out the most are Signal and Telegram. Here is the latest news about Whatsapp leaks:

https://cybernews.com/news/whatsapp-data-leak/

Both apps aren’t affiliated with big tech companies, Signal belongs to a nonprofit organization and an independent for-profit company owns Telegram. But which one is better in terms of privacy? And which one is more convenient to use?

Privacy Settings: Telegram vs Signal

Telegram and Signal are both offering End to end encryption (E2EE).

Signal takes things one step further with their open source back-end code, a lot of secure messaging services only open source the frontend application code (“client-side”) while keeping the backend platform proprietary (“server-side”).

Telegram on the other hand doesn’t offer E2EE by default and only through their secret chat feature, which can be a downside since you can’t access your messages on another device or when you log out.

One exciting piece of information about Signal is that it is supported by Edward Snowden who probably uses it as his messaging app.

Convenience:

Through Telegram, you can share files that are up to 2GB in size, while Signal allows files up to 100MB. Group chats in Telegram can host up to 200,000 people, and Signal’s upper limit is 1,000 people.

Also, Telegram offers message synchronization through their Cloud Backup between all your devices while Signal only offers local Backup.

Full Comparison:

If your main concern when messaging is Privacy, then Signal is a clear winner. But when you look at other aspects, it’s evident that Telegram offers useful features that may make it more convenient.

In fact, if you care more about convenience rather than privacy, maybe Telegram is the way to go. Signal is not an inconvenient app to use. Rather, it’s only a less convenient one compared to Telegram when it comes to certain features. It certainly has great messaging features such as video chat, file transfers, and a desktop version.