By Yasmin Ahmed: WhatsApp has been facing criticism for its updated terms of service slated to go into effect from February 8, 2021. The new policy tweaks how the platform processes user data when a WhatsApp business account is involved and shares it with Facebook. Users are moving to alternatives like Signal with many tech giants endorsing it. According to Sensor Tower, Signal has seen 2.3 million new downloads between January 6 and January 10.
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WhatsApp has been around since 2010 and became the default messaging system for almost 400 million users in India by mid-2019. It became the most popular messaging app and became an indispensable part of users' lives. Now, even as some users have started switching to alternatives like Signal, they miss some of WhatsApp's features that Signal does not.
Extensive sticker packs: The stickers available on Signal are limited against the plethora of stickers present on WhatsApp. However, Signal has noted that it will roll out features like chat wallpapers, an About field for your Signal profile, animated stickers and media auto-download settings and full-screen profile photos soon.
Status updates: WhatsApp also has status updates that Signal lacks as it does not support status updates.
Online and last seen: WhatsApp shows the online and last seen status of live or active users on the platform. However, Signal does not show online status or last seen, and also gives users the option to disable typing indicators. There is no way you can do that on WhatsApp.
Custom chat wallpapers: WhatsApp recently introduced a custom chat wallpapers feature that allows users to set different wallpapers for different chats. WhatsApp says that by making your chats distinguishable, users will never worry about sending messages to the wrong chat.
Third-party backups: While WhatsApp allows users to backup their chats on third parties like Google Drive, Signal does not give its users this feature. However, the app gives users the option to manually set up a local backup.
WhatsApp payment and carts: WhatsApp launched WhatsApp’s UPI-based payment feature in late 2020 with the NPCI and subsequently rolled out carts for WhatsApp businesses, monetising the platform. Signal’s Brian Acton left WhatsApp in 2017 because he did not want the app getting monetised, so Signal, later taken over by Acton has neither a payment method nor carts.
While WhatsApp has some features that Signal does not, Signal has some features that WhatsApp does not have. Signal gives users the option to write a note to self rather than forming a single person group to send notes to oneself. Signal app also allows users to relay their voice calls to app servers to conceal their contacts' identity.
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