Whenever mobile app users look for messaging apps, the first thing they notice is not the feature list, but how secure it is. Privacy and security of messages are the major concerns of all mobile users.
Secure messaging apps must have security features like end-to-end encryption, robust source code, digital fingerprint (metadata), etc. With these key points in mind, we curated a list of the ten most secure messaging apps.
Before taking a quick glance at what apps made the list, it’s vital to know what made these apps better than their contenders. For this, we need to know the features of a secure messaging app:
End-to-End Encryption
Earlier used solely for government and defense purposes, data encryption became a part of daily conversations when people realized early generation messaging apps were not private.
End-to-end encryption is the process of encrypting a message with a key that is available only to the sender and receiver of a message. When the sender sends the message, it gets encoded in a cipher that is unreadable until it reaches the device of the recipient.
WhatsApp is the best example of an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.
Source Code
Many secure messaging apps use open-source code. Open-source code allows independent code auditors to evaluate and measure how robust a messaging app is. If there are any security loopholes in the code structure, security and privacy experts suggest how to tweak the code to make it more secure.
Signal is one such messaging app that uses open-source code.
Digital Fingerprint
All the people social media applications suggest you connect with are an example of your digital fingerprint. Digital fingerprints are the metadata that helps social media applications and their respective messaging apps find your phone contacts. While removing all the digital fingerprints is not easy, there are messaging apps that ask for your phone number, email, or any other contact details.
Wickr Me is one such app that doesn’t require your contact details.
There are 7 more entries that made to our list of 10 Most Secure Messaging Apps.
Telegram
Dust
Threema
Viber
iMessage from Apple Inc.
Facebook/Instagram Messenger
Silence
Go through the originally published list to know about the most secure messaging apps— and see which messaging app suits you the best.
