7 alternatives to Facebook Messenger

Facebook had a lot of people talking this week about new changes to its popular messaging app – if you want to chat on Facebook, you'll have to download the separate Facebook Messenger app and keep it running at the same time as Facebook.



"That's kind of a pain," says Facebook user Stephanie Smith. "I think it's easier to just press one button, have one click and have it all in an integrated service."

Her sentiments are not unique -- so we went out and surveyed great alternatives to Facebook Messenger for those who don't want to have that second app running all the time.

The advantage of a chat app over straight texting on a phone: Fans say chat apps are more reliable than standalone text apps on phones, because it's internet based, you don't have to worry about your texts not going through.

• What'sApp (Free, Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry) is the most popular stand-alone chat app, with 450 million users. Facebook snapped up the service earlier this year, for $19 billion, but has yet to make any substantial changes. WhatsApp is more popular overseas than here, as a way to make global texts for free. "It's the easiest way to reach my international friends," says Kelsey Doorey, who runs the Vow to be Chic startup here. "You can contact people who live all over the world."

• Viber (Free, Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry,) Also popular worldwide, with 300 million users, Viber is more than just free texting – it also has a new desktop app that lets you make free phone calls and texts worldwide to other Viber users from your computer. Japanese media company Rakuten bought Viber for $900 million earlier this year.

• Google Hangouts (Free, Android, Apple.) The old Google Talk chat service morphed into Hangouts in 2013, and while Google hasn't released usage numbers, Hangouts offers video chat and a very cool feature only available on Apple devices – free phone calls to any number in the United State or Canada, from within the app, without having to pay carrier charges.

• MessageMe (Free, Apple, Android) is designed with group messaging in mind. Like Viber, it has a desktop app to keep the conversations flowing between mobile and desktop. "MessageMe has been one of our favorites," says Bob Wall, the Chief Technology Officer for start-up Washio. "One of the nice aspects is that you can do video, you can do photo, you can do text, you can look up pictures from the internet and put them right in there. So it takes messaging like one step further."

• TapTalk (Free, Apple, Android.)The new service advertises itself as "one to one pics and videos in a split second," Wall's Washio boss Jordan Metzner, is a big fan. "It allows you to send a really quick image, or video to your friends, and it knows your location as well. And it's almost instantaneous. So the moment you send it to your friend, you can't send that same picture to someone else, you need to send them a new picture."

• GroupMe: (Free, Apple, Android, Windows) is a way to text beyond one-to-one, with multiple friends.

"I've used it on trips with groups of people, and it's easy," says Giselle Andrea of Los Angeles. "To stay in touch with people."

• TextPlus (Free, Apple, Android,) has both free unlimited texting, and free phone calls via a TextPlus generated phone number to the 60 million TextPlus members. Outside of the network is two cents a minute.

5 myths about Facebook's Messenger app

Facebook's recent effort to force people to adopt its standalone mobile messaging app has privacy-concerned users up in arms. Many of them believe the app is especially invasive.

One blog from the Huffington Post published in December has gone viral, making the rounds on the social network recently because it claims the app gives Facebook "direct control over your mobile device" and allows Facebook to call phone numbers without a users' intervention and send text messages without confirmation, but none of that is accurate.

In truth, Facebook Messenger isn't any more invasive than Facebook's main app -or other similar applications.

The fear and confusion stem from a message that greets owners of Android devices when they install the app. It explains that the app requires permission access to the device's camera, microphone, list of contacts and other information.

Here's what Facebook's mobile messaging app does and doesn't do.

-Myth: You have to use the Messenger app if you want to send messages to your Facebook friends.

-Reality: While it's required to download if you are using Facebook's mobile app on the iPhone or Android smartphones, you can avoid it if use the Facebook messenger service on your desktop or laptop, iPad or even the mobile Facebook website.

-Myth: The Facebook Messenger app's terms of service are different from -and more intrusive than- Facebook's own official terms.

-Reality: Facebook's terms of service are the same for all its mobile apps, including the main Facebook app. You can read it here: m.facebook.com/policies. What's upsetting people is the list of "permissions" they see when they download and install the app on an Android phone. It's a long list with 10 items, each of which states that the app needs access to features on your phone including contacts, calendar, location data and Wi-Fi information. Sure, that's a lot of personal data. But it's the same data most messaging apps have access to. On the iPhone, users don't get the list of permissions when they install the app, but when they use it, permissions pop up individually. You can view the app's list of permissions here:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?idcom.facebook.orca . Click "view details" under Permissions.

-Myth: Facebook's Messenger app will use your phone's microphone to record you.

-Reality: The app needs permission to use your phone's microphone and camera. But it requires that access because the microphone is needed for voice calling, a service that the standalone app offers that the Facebook app doesn't, and sending sound with videos. Same with the camera, it needs access if you want to send your friends pictures.

-Myth: Facebook will direct the app to send SMS, or text, messages without your permission.

-Reality: One of the permissions does say that Facebook can edit, receive, read and send SMS messages. But the company says the reason it wants to send and receive SMS messages is so that if you add a phone number to your Messenger account, you can confirm by a confirmation code that Facebook sends via text message.

-Myth: The Messenger app is new.

-Reality: Facebook's Messenger app has been around since 2011. In April, it started requiring that users in Europe download and install the app if they wish to send messages to Facebook friends. Two weeks ago, the company said it would expand the requirement to other parts of the world. Facebook says it's forcing users to make the switch because a standalone app offers more features. For example, the app is faster, it offers a selfie cam, stickers and can be used to reach people on your contact list who are not Facebook users.

8 popular messenging apps that will make socializing easy for you

Often blamed by telecom operators for the death of the SMS, messaging apps gained prominence around the world rather quickly, and continue to dominate app stores. And analysts at Macquarie [a global financial services provider] have estimated that the global user base of messaging apps will grow to 2.9 billion users in 2017 from 1 billion-plus currently. Here, we look at a few often-used options — listed with their number of users — and check out features that have contributed to their popularity. 



Line 
Number talk: Crossed 400 million registered users in April. 
Although voice and video calling as well as the text messaging are its mainstay, it is the app’s selection of stickers that have become a rage. Distinctly Japanese, and sporting manga expressions at times, the range includes popular characters like Pokémon, Doraemon and Hello Kitty as well as some that are well-known around the world, like Donald Duck and Snoopy. Time-limited promotions also take place. For example, Pray for Philippines stickers were available after a devastating typhoon hit the region. The proceeds were donated to help the victims.

Facebook Messenger
 Number talk: Crossed 200 million monthy active users in March.
The app is connected to the social network and can tell you who is on Messenger or currently active on Facebook. This allows you to stay updated on latest posts and happenings even on the go. And, in a move that is likely to get more people on the service, the social networking giant confirmed on July 28 that it will be removing the messaging feature from its mobile app over the next few days, and requiring people to use its stand-alone Messenger app instead.

Viber Number talk: Crossed 350 million registered users in June. 
What sets this app apart is that it allows users to make unlimited calls or send as many messages as they want to anyone, anywhere in the world — so long as they also have the. And if that doesn’t drive home the point, the app claims that their “sound quality is much better than a regular call (sic)” on its FAQ page. 

WhatsApp Number talk: Crossed 500 million active users in April. 
Probably the most-used cross-platform messaging app, it won its millions of subscribers by keeping things simple. Replacing the SMS with a two-step set-up process, users can also send group messages, pictures and videos, as well as GPS coordinates. Ad-free for life, there is no charge for using it in the first year. However, one needs to pay $0.99 annually after that. But despite the nominal fee and the fact that video calling is still unavailable, its wide subscriber base makes it a popular option when going in for a messaging app.   


BlackBerry Messenger 
 Number talk: Crossed 160 million registered users in June.
Last year, in a move to win back subscribers who had moved on to newer platforms, BlackBerry announced the roll-out of its instant messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), for Android and iOS phones. According to @BBM, more than 10 million downloads took place in the first 24 hours. What works for BBM is the end-to-end encryption that is available. Also, privacy is maintained as one has to approve requests and only then can people be added to chat lists.

Snapchat  Number talk: Crossed 30 million monthly active users in December 2013.
Introduced at a time when privacy concerns dominated newsprint, the app gained instant popularity because users could set a time limit for how long the recipients can view images or videos before they disappeared from their devices. Also, this content was not supposed to be stored on the company’s servers. However, these claims took a severe beating when on May 7, Snapchat settled with the Federal Trade Commission in the US over allegations that it deceived users over the amount of personal data it collected, and was responsible for a security breach that impacted 4.6 million customers.  

Hike 
 Number talk: Crossed 20 million users in June.
There has been buzz around this new entrant for its ability to send messages even when offline. And the question on almost everyone’s mind has been — how does it work? Turns out, one just taps on any undelivered message and selects the kind of offline message you want to send. If you choose to send it via Hike, it’ll go from a VMN (virtual mobile number). Select your own number, and the phone will send an SMS for which you will be charged as per an operator plan. 


Telegram Number talk: Crossed 35 million monthly users in March.
The messaging service places a premium on security and allows users to control the level of privacy they want. Those interested in maximum privacy can opt for Secret Chats, featuring end-to-end encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient. As part of this service, nothing is logged on the servers, and one can programme the messages to self-destruct from both devices. And if that’s not enough, servers are spread all over the world for security, and the company claims to deliver messages faster than any other app.