WhatsApp or Telegram? De Critic’s Review
The era of instant messaging came to life about 40 years ago. With so many competitors in the red ocean, WhatsApp came with its blue ocean strategy and currently leads the market in Nigeria with Facebook messenger and Telegram following behind. Other competitors like 2go, WeChat, etc, have been pushed far down the ladder. WhatsApp and Telegram Applications are very similar yet unique in their business model; they are both fast, free and secured with end-to-end encryption yet different in their own way. They took time to study what the consumers want and then break away from the norm. Although these two Apps are seemingly great, there are various things we secretly wish they could do.
WhatsApp Telegram blue ocean curve
Over the years, WhatsApp has made various improvements and added new features to improve its customer experience, well, we believe more can be done. For instance, a limit of 256 is way too small to cater for a social group. That was a terrible mistake and the reason consumers had to consider Telegram. Group admins could add anyone they feel like to group chats without consent, which creates a breach of privacy. Our market survey of 100 Baby Boomers, 100 GenX, 100 Millennials and 100 GenZ in Nigeria, reveals that 80% of each of the group are irritated by this, only the GenZ has 30%. The remaining are generally not bothered as they will simply remove themselves. We recommend that invites alone should be sent, leaving the recipient to accept or reject.
Why would WhatsApp allow sent messages to be deleted only to turn around and snitch on us? Not only is that not cool, but it also defeats the purpose of secured delete. At least we should be given the opportunity to edit and resend. Also, why do we need to download another enabling app to be able to save or download the status of our friends that is shared for our consumption? Lastly, it’s high time WhatsApp begin to work on their cloud storage. We keep losing important messages even when chats have been backed up. The last time I switched phones, there was an error retrieving my chats. Very disappointing.
However, WhatsApp in itself is a very cool app that has a social aura with status and video call options which encourages bonding among friends. And despite its limitations, it ranks higher in customers usage than Telegram.
TELEGRAM
Though a distant follower, Telegram is waxing very strong and coming up very fast. With its unique features such as bot compatibility which makes the App geek-friendly, provision of channels which is used to build large communities, the availability of secret chat option which gives people a sense of privacy, the high group chat limit and etc, Telegram has carved out a niche for itself. Although people can’t stop gushing about the App, many complain that it is too formal and business-oriented. But it appears that is what it is meant for. In fact, businesses take Telegram business platform more seriously than a WhatsApp business platform. It feels like a place to get information and breeze out. The feeling of friendship and bonding is very minimal, unlike its industry leader. Its greatest flaw is its look-design. Nevertheless, the App is preferred by groups and business users and it is an excellent platform if one values privacy.
CONCLUSION
These two Apps, though strong and distinguished could learn a thing or two from each other, otherwise, a fast competitor with enough resources may beat them to the game. In the end, if you want to keep it business-like or enjoy large user group and privacy, Telegram is the one for you. WhatsApp, on the other hand, has the advantage of being more widely known with more users, yet its group number is limited. It is ironic because social groups need an unlimited number of users. With WhatsApp group limit, Telegram becomes the way out for large social groups. WhatsApp has taken too long to resolve this, and we can only hope that its partnership with Facebook will save the day fast.
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41 Responses
Nice write up and thanks for enlightening us more on this friendly apps.
Competition brings the best out of competitors, at the same time bring new innovation for a new breed yet to become, cos the standard is already at the hight. At the end, a great value for users, the future look interesting.
I’m mostly used to WhatsApp, I guess I’ll have to explore telegram now
Thanks Moyo k. You could definitely give it a try.
This is quite enlightening. Vast majority of users of the two apps don’t know some of these distinctive features pointed out here. Telegram is fast becoming a good choice among business owners due to its cloud storage future and data security. Telegram’s pitch is speed and security. But whatsapp with its video and voice call feature which is lacking in Telegram and a large user base of 1.6billion is still leading the market. I personally love WhatsApp more than Telegram.
Nice piece…Thanks for the information,Telegram ✅✔
I totally agree with your critics on both Apps. I believe they have a lot to learn from each other
But then again, I still see both apps as 2 unique social platforms with different purposes. And copying are trying to reproduce their characteristics to look alike would defeat their individual purpose.
I think the limited number of group membership is okay, as it helps you keep close community of friends you can relate with individually. They should just work on giving people the choice to accept or decline a group invite
On the other hand, I think Telegram should change that aesthetics of their app. It looks dull to the eyes and makes it more complicated to understand
If you ask me I’d say WhatsApp and Telegram are both like Phone
WhatsApp is a personal and home line while Telegram is the office and business line 😁
But nonetheless, I believe they both have lots to improve on quickly or some young tech guy’s idea would spring up from the suburbs and Over take them both
Thank you!
Interesting. But you really think the limited number of members to Whatsapp group is okay?
Good luck telling a choral group of many years old with 500+ members that not all can be members. lol.
Thanks Chudi. Very well said. The problem with the WhatsApp group limit is that over the years some social groups tend to grow. What do you expect the members to do? They will be forced to seek out an alternative.
Awesome piece.
Thanks Jeremiah.
Telegram is definitely going to take over from WhatsApp in no time. WhatsApp is now more of a media sharing app because of its status view rather than a messaging app.
Nice write up Chinenye
And so some people say. Time will tell. Thanks Deb.
Nice write up Chinenye. Telegram is fast rising. Me I prefer using Telegram this days because it gives me a better chance to personalize the app to what I want which WhatsApp is not giving. They are both wonderful messaging app but Telegram has more wonderful features than WhatsApp. Telegram is more formal than WhatsApp though WhatsApp has developed Business WhatsApp which is also formal in a way.
Yes Michael. Telegram does have more features than Whatsapp and whatsapp does have a business version. Thanks for your contribution.
Such a great observation, over the years I have been trying to make out the difference between the two apps…Thanks again Nenye for doing it.
You are welcome Chubby. We are very pleased to serve.
Telegram’s cloud storage allows images, text messages, media files and documents to be saved on their cloud wherein users can also log out and log in so backup and restore is not a cause of worry for the users…..so I would say telegram is better
Yes some people are more inclined to Telegram due to their cloud storage. Thanks Princewill.
Telegram worked and improved on WhatsApp concepts and came out with better features.
WhatsApp had limited foresight and also I believe they didn’t pay much attention to their customers feedback/ complaints.
Thanks Norbert. A very good observation.
Really an amazing write up. You nailed it. I wish whatsapp can upgrade their app.Because It is really taking too much time. I remembered it all started with IMO having chances for video and audio calls before we know it, Whatsapp was upgraded. Then came GB WhatsApp came around and Whatsapp noticed that and banned it. That’s where I have a very big issue with Whatsapp. After banning them what have u improved so far. The owner of Whatsapp should have locate those guys and pay them and learn what he doesn’t know instead of banning them like that without having improved Whatsapp since then or even pay them sef. Then now secretly there is another Whatsapp known as Yo Whatsapp now came to stay because the owner of Whatsapp doesn’t know or may be he knows how to ban them.
Then as for telegram, human being is a social being. They should loosen up a bit. Thanks
Thanks Maryrose. Very apt. You sure hit the nail on the head.
Telegram worked and improved on WhatsApp concept and came out better.
WhatsApp had a limited foresight and also I believe they didn’t work on their customers feedback.
I think both apps have their pros and cons, and as an individual we have choices and purpose of using each of the apps, i have both apps on my phone but i barely use the Telegram app, I’ll go for the WhatsApp app regardless of any Telegram feature it doesn’t possess.
Thanks akayode. That’s really nice to know.
This is quite educating honestly cause I had no idea of all the limitations
Nice work
Thanks Tega.
This is really eye opening, fortunately for me i get to use the two app, each for its own purpose. The bot feature on telegram is anazing I’ve had to use it even tho misleading most atimes. This is an amazing writeup!
Thank you Ibrahim. They both serve their own purpose.
Wow despite the fact that I have used what’sapp for quite some time now I didn’t know they had restricted amount of contacts,also I hate that I have lost information from not logging in a while which I thought shouldn’t have been so,I hope some business mogul is seen this article right now cause it clearly shows that an app with improved data storage and no limits to size of contacts could be the next big deal,I have little to say about telegram as I only recently got on but you can almost tell its a business oriented app that doesn’t really attract young vibrant teens who just want to connect and have fun with colleagues,
This is a proper article kudos
Thanks Caleb.
Quite an interesting analysis there. Now, left for me to pitch my tent
Thank you Ada.
I’m a nutshell I’ll go for Telegram because it has basic distinguishing features and as you rightly said, it’s quickly rising.
Thanks Korie. Well said.
I’d say both come in handy and serve almost the same purpose even with clear cut differences.
Yes they do. They are similar, yet different. Thanks Olalekan.
This is quite enlightening. Vast majority of users of the two apps don’t know some of these distinctive features pointed out here. Telegram is fast becoming a good choice among business owners due to its cloud storage future and data security. Telegram’s USP is speed and security. But whatsapp with its video and voice call feature which is lacking in Telegram and a large user base of 1.6billion will continue to lead the market. I personally love WhatsApp more than Telegram.
Quite an interesting topic. I think WhatsApp could be said to be an informal Telegram, and Telegram a formal WhatsApp. While WhatsApp has more attractive features that make it fun for users, Telegram has a more formal aura around it.
However, I think WhatsApp could do with making these little adjustments to serve her users better:
Review the method in which users are being added to groups without consent;
Make unlimited the number of members of a particular group;
Make provision for one to be able to conceal certain things in the app, like to lock and unlock chats, download statuses without a third part app;
When one deletes a particular message, the ‘this message was deleted’ indication that always appears afterwards, I think, is not necessary. Once deleted should be wiped out completely without trace.
Also, for Telegram to keep up the competition, it could do with taking some insight from WhatsApp.
This could only make for a better service, whichever one a person chooses to use.
Thank you.
Thanks Kyrian. You made some strong points here.