8 WhatsApp replacements

[jes]

8 WhatsApp alternatives


Have a principle objection to Facebook? Or perhaps the campaign against third-party WhatsApp APIs is getting you down?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

People going OTT with their reactions as usual. MS acquiring Skype didn't really change it much, and I expect it to be much of the same with Whatsapp.

 

[Ninja'd]

None of my friends and acquaintances who have Samsung devices use ChatOn. Anyone?

 

[The_Ogre]

None of my friends and acquaintances who have Samsung devices use ChatOn. Anyone?

I only have one person I know who use ChatOn and he's annoying as fsck!

So, as your friend, "No", I don't use it

 

[Skerminkel]

People going OTT with their reactions as usual. MS acquiring Skype didn't really change it much, and I expect it to be much of the same with Whatsapp.

Except for MS trying to push Skype down your throat, knowing your contacts and seemingly stalling innovation, you might be right.

 

[Skerminkel]

Question: if WhatsApp includes voice calling, what makes it different from Hangouts?

 

[MartyMarts]

People going OTT with their reactions as usual. MS acquiring Skype didn't really change it much, and I expect it to be much of the same with Whatsapp.

I dunno hey... FB has become so intrusive that I just can't see them spending 19 bazillion dollahs on Whatsapp and then just leaving it "as is".

EDIT: intrusive might be the wrong word but I'm too lazy to find a better word right now. Forgive me much please thanks.

 

[Allin]

Google Talk was brilliant. Hangouts is an absolute PAIN.
If FB insists on me having an account to use Whatsapp I will try Telegram.

And as for MS buying Skype - Skype became so intrusive I abandoned my Skype credit of a few hundred Rand.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

The only one who will win in this war is the guy who will code a gateway so that users on whatsapp can communicate with users on skype (for example) ...

 

[Budza]

Winner Takes All.

That is all.

 

[Budza]

The only one who will win in this war is the guy who will code a gateway so that users on whatsapp can communicate with users on skype (for example) ...

Pigeon did that a while ago- Skype disabled their integration. Chat aggregation would be awesome. You could hopefully even have multiple whatsapp/whatever accounts on one device...

 

[Ninja'd]

The only one who will win in this war is the guy who will code a gateway so that users on whatsapp can communicate with users on skype (for example) ...

I imagine MS and Facebook wouldn't be too happy about that.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Thing is - I want a client I can run on my desktop, Nexus (no 3G) and Android phone.

At this stage the only one which fits the bill nicely is telegram. (gtalk doesn't count, hangouts is horrible).

if google can revert back to plain gtalk on android, then I would reconsider... (as I can have multiple gtalk clients)...

 

[Kloofvreter]

People going OTT with their reactions as usual. MS acquiring Skype didn't really change it much, and I expect it to be much of the same with Whatsapp.

I agree.

So has anyone jumped ship yet? I mean, they are owned by Facebook now, after all.

 

[Conack]

I did some research last week after reading about the Whatsapp/Facebook deal, then migrated to Telegram last week friday and have managed to convince my primary contacts (roughly a dozen) to join me today.

The desktop app is a huge plus over Whatsapp, for that alone I'm already glad to have made the move.
I also find messaging is faster than both Gtalk and whatsapp, with the added benefit of "Secret chats" should one need that.

Thus far everyone using it is quite impressed and since it's identical to Whatsapp which young and old are already comfortable with, there's no learning curve for moms and pops.

 

[bullzeye.za]

Thing is - I want a client I can run on my desktop, Nexus (no 3G) and Android phone.

At this stage the only one which fits the bill nicely is telegram. (gtalk doesn't count, hangouts is horrible).

if google can revert back to plain gtalk on android, then I would reconsider... (as I can have multiple gtalk clients)...

Trillian can handle google talk in the same way you used to do it. Give it a try, awesome little app.

Works with almost any other chat protocol too, excluding Skype.

Pidgin should do the same, though I haven't tried it for gtalk yet.

 

[Kloofvreter]

I did some research last week after reading about the Whatsapp/Facebook deal, then migrated to Telegram

What did you find during your research that made you migrate?

 

[MartyMarts]

So has anyone jumped ship yet? I mean, they are owned by Facebook now, after all.

No, not yet but I'm guessing new T&C's would change my mind or maybe an app update with Whatsapp suddenly having some magical features will help me jump ship.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

No, not yet but I'm guessing new T&C's would change my mind or maybe an app update with Whatsapp suddenly having some magical features will help me jump ship.

I suspect that many people will jump ship, and then jump back once they realise that most of their contacts still use Whatsapp. It's a futile exercise to prove a point that isn't going to inconvenience anybody other than yourself. IMO of course...

 

[Kloofvreter]

No, not yet but I'm guessing new T&C's would change my mind or maybe an app update with Whatsapp suddenly having some magical features will help me jump ship.

Can you think of an example? And the fact that FB now has your cell number is not a good example, they have had mine for years (it's on my profile), and they clearly did nothing with it.

I suspect that many people will jump ship, and then jump back once they realise that most of their contacts still use Whatsapp. It's a futile exercise to prove a point that isn't going to inconvenience anybody other than yourself. IMO of course...

Yup.