WhatsApp Vs Telegram: A look At Efforts To Catch-Up

In the ever-evolving world of instant messaging apps, WhatsApp has long been considered a pioneer, dominating the market with its user-friendly interface and widespread popularity since its launch in November 2009. However, in recent years, the rise of Telegram has posed a significant challenge to WhatsApp’s dominance.

Since its launch in 2013, Telegram’s extensive feature set, robust security measures, and focus on user privacy have been seen to attract a growing number of users. And, as a response, WhatsApp has been actively striving to keep pace with Telegram, gradually incorporating similar features while staying true to its core strengths.

On Monday, May 22, 2023, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced via his official Facebook handle that the instant messaging app has been upgraded to support the ability to edit sent messages, coming as the latest features updates to the app. While the feature may be new to WhatsApp, Telegram, on the other hand, has had the feature as far back as 2016 —corroborating speculations that WhatsApp is, indeed, playing a catch-up with Telegram as it has been observed with numerous features that WhatsApp had have to incorporate trailing Telegram.

In this post, Ripples Nigeria takes a look at an array of features that WhatsApp had adapted after an initial Telegram lead.

Group Chats: Supercharged Collaboration

One area where Telegram initially outshone WhatsApp was in the realm of group chats. Telegram’s support for large group sizes, up to 200,000 members, and its flexible administration tools made it a preferred platform for communities, businesses, and even large-scale events. WhatsApp took note of this trend and responded by gradually increasing its group chat capacity, first from 100 to 256 members in 2016, and later to 1024 members in 2022, in an attempt to cater for the needs of larger communities.

While WhatsApp may not have reached Telegram’s massive scale just yet, it has successfully closed the gap and created a more collaborative environment.

Stickers and Emojis: Personalization and Fun

Another area where WhatsApp has made strides to catch up with Telegram is in the realm of stickers and emojis. Telegram gained popularity for its vast collection of expressive stickers and unique emojis, allowing users to personalize their conversations and express themselves creatively.

WhatsApp, perhaps, after auditing the app’s build, recognized the value of this feature and introduced its own sticker packs, which can be created by users and shared within chats. The platform has expanded its sticker library significantly and continues to encourage users to express themselves through this engaging visual medium.

Telegram-like Features: Coming to WhatsApp

Whenever WhatsApp introduces a Telegram-existing feature, it has become commonplace to hear them say “Welcome to Telegram” to reinforce their observations that WhatsApp has been actively incorporating features reminiscent of Telegram to cater to the evolving demands of its user base.

For example, WhatsApp recently introduced the “Disappearing Messages” feature, allowing users to set a timer for messages to automatically disappear after a specified time. This feature mirrors Telegram’s “Secret Chats” functionality, a feature that adds an extra layer of privacy and ephemeral communication, and has been a topic as far back as 2018 on Telegram.

Additionally, WhatsApp has been experimenting with features like self-destructing photos and videos, which allow users to send media files that disappear once viewed. This feature also aligns with Telegram’s approach of prioritizing user privacy and control over shared content.

Future Outlook: Striving for Parity

As WhatsApp continues to evolve and adapt to the changing landscape of instant messaging, it is evident that the app is actively striving to become more like Telegram, albeit without compromising its existing strengths.

By incorporating features such as sent message edit, larger group chats, stickers, disappearing messages, and self-destructing media, WhatsApp, though, aims to provide a more comprehensive user experience, is seen to be trailing its close competitor, Telegram.

While Telegram still holds certain advantages, such as its open-source nature and bot ecosystem, WhatsApp’s efforts to catch up may also demonstrate its commitment to maintaining its position as a leading instant messaging app.

Meanwhile, the competition between WhatsApp and Telegram is not just about feature parity but also about retaining and attracting users as both platforms have their unique strengths and user bases, and the battle for dominance in the messaging app market is far from over.

As the rivalry between WhatsApp and Telegram continues, users can look forward to more exciting updates and features from both platforms, ultimately benefiting from the competition and driving the advancement of messaging technology as a whole.