I guess my question would be "different from what"? If you mean different from WhatsApp then OK, if you mean different from the native Messages app then I don't think any of the apps mentioned would be a replacement because I don't think you can just send a text to any phone number with them, the other person would also have to use the same app just like with WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger etc. Signal apparently is quite good and seems to be actually considered to be the best when it comes to privacy and security, but Telegram doesn't even offer end-to-end encryption which is the default in WhatsApp and also in Apple's iMessages app. The fact is that regular SMS messages are not encrypted and if a provider is hacked the hackers can potentially access text messages. In the below Forbes article the author explains why people should not even use regular SMS messages for any private conversations and instead should use apps like WhatsApp, Signal or iMessage; Facebook Messenger also does not have end to end encryption.
Why You Should Stop Sending SMS Messages—Even On Apple iMessage 😂 anything other for me Telegram would not be something I consider due to it's popularity with No, Don’t Quit WhatsApp To Use Telegram Instead—Here’s Why If you’re one of the tens of millions of users that have recently switched WhatsApp for Telegram, or if you’re considering making that move, then a newly reported security issue should be a serious concern. Here’s what you need to know. WhatsApp Vs Telegram As the dust finally settles on WhatsApp’s nightmare start to 2021 , the stark new truth for Facebook’s flagship messaging platform is that the landscape has changed. Signal has gone from niche to borderline mainstream, and while Telegram was already widely used, it has grown significantly in critical western markets, beyond the less open markets in which it has historically been strong. The network effect will now pull millions more users to each. As I’ve explained before, while Signal is more secure than WhatsApp, Telegram is not. In fact, Telegram’s cloud-based architecture is a serious risk when compared to the end-to-end default encryption deployed by Signal and WhatsApp, which also uses Signal’s protocol. All group messages on Telegram are only encrypted between your device and Telegram’s cloud, your message history is stored on Telegram’s cloud, and if you (unwisely) transfer your WhatsApp chat history to Telegram, then this is also stored on its cloud. Make you sure understand that Telegram has the decryption keys to any of your data that you store on its cloud—this is no different to the encryption issues with Apple and Google cloud backups. This is clearly illustrated by law enforcement agencies campaigning to compromise such encryption, enabling the lawful monitoring and interception of user content. The industry rightly pushes back, such compromises would inevitably weaken security for everyone, everywhere. When it comes to serious issues like child safety, the better solution is to deploy metadata monitoring (as Facebook is doing) or restrictions on the availability of end-to-end encryption, perhaps by age or only when a smartphone is linked to an account. Telegram won’t talk about the serious issues with its security architecture when compared to Signal and WhatsApp, its claims that it is more secure than WhatsApp are clearly wrong. In the messaging world, nothing beats end-to-end encryption. Period. Telegram always points to its secret chats, which are end-to-end encrypted, albeit can only work between two individuals on one device apiece, bypassing the platform’s cloud storage. But a security report, published this week , has disclosed new issues. The researcher behind the report, Dhiraj Mishra told me that, even here, “a vulnerability in the messaging app meant that the self-destructed sent and received conversations in Telegram macOS were never actually deleted.” Mishra found that audio and video attachments sent “secretly” could be found on the same storage path as those sent by Telegram’s default, not end-to-end encrypted, messages. On normal messages, Mishra reports, “the application leaks the sandbox path where the recorded message is stored.” Worryingly, though, “while performing the same task under the secret chat option the MediaResourceData(path://) URI was not leaked, but the recorded audio/video message still gets stored on the [same] path.” There was a much more serious issue, though, “a self-destructing message in the secret chat option, gets stored even after the message is self-destructed.” This is a security disaster. Mishra also found that Telegram was storing locally held passcodes on MacOS in plaintext. “In a local attack vector,” he told me, “any malicious actor could utilise such sensitive information to bypass this control and view end users chat. This is clearly a less serious issue but doesn’t indicate a security first approach. Any potential Telegram endpoint compromise has serious implications given access to the cloud storage—the architecture supports instant multi-device access and always sync’d messaging, that even allows for draft messages to be started on one device and completed on another. But all that comes at a heavy price, security-wise. Mishra says that Telegram patched both these issues with version 7.4, and paid him a bounty—the platform has not yet responded to my request for comment. The fact these issues have been disclosed and patched is beside the point. The secret chat vulnerability is yet further evidence that switching from WhatsApp to Telegram, with its lack of support for default end-to-end encryption, is a bad idea. According to its founder Pavel Durov, “Telegram became the most downloaded mobile app in the world in January 2021.” Where those users are ditching WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption for Telegram’s cloud-based solution, this is a backward move. Mishra says that “in the past, I've identified many other vulnerabilities in Telegram, which leaks sensitive information even with e2ee secret chat technology. The quality of Telegram’s e2ee can be improved.” And so, for the tens of millions of WhatsApp users making or contemplating that switch, the decision has suddenly become much easier—only Signal is the genuinely better alternative. “Use Signal,” Mishra confirms, telling me that “Signal redacts sensitive endpoints—sessionID, attachmentDownloads etc—keeping all this in mind, Signal textsecure protocol is better than Telegram and WhatsApp.” As for those of you determined to stick with Telegram, Mishra advises you to “delete all your ‘Cloud Drafts’ under ‘Privacy and Security’ and limit your conversations.” In his view, “handling user privacy/data should not be that hard. Telegram's security model has received multiple criticisms by many cryptologists in the past.” Putting this new report aside, you don’t need to rush to switch from WhatsApp over this year’s privacy backlash—nothing material has changed. As I’ve commented in recent weeks, you can run WhatsApp and Signal in parallel, and as more of your contacts do the same, you’ll find yourself using Signal ever more and WhatsApp ever less. And security- and privacy-wise, that’s just fine. From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Donna Casteen Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 4:54 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: has anyone tried these apps Dan, What is the "zero click effort?" Sounds important enough to ask, being that you are searching for a different messaging app. Donna I was considering trying some different messaging apps since there is another zero click effort going on. These reportedly have protections against zero click attacks and thought I'd ask here before going through the effort myself. The apps are: Threema Telegram Messenger Signal Not sure about using Telegram Messenger because of its storing everything in the cloud and I do not trust cloud storage very much though. 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