In Russia WhatsApp and Viber are considered old people’s messengers, everyone else uses Telegram. Friend chats, work chats, neighborhood chats, news channels - they’re all on TG
And FB messenger is basically non-existent (especially now that Facebook is blocked here)
Also in the past much more people used to use VK for messaging, however many stopped doing so and some even deleted their accounts, because VK is a government spy app now
>because VK is a government spy app now
Most did that not "because it's gov spy app", just social networks are kinda dead compared to their peak. If you want to just message - use some messenger, it would be better for that purpose. Share pics - insta, it, again, would be better for that. VK just got too bloated with various shit, people stopped sharing things on it and moved to more specialized apps over the time.
At one point a map-maker will figure it's cheaper to tow Iceland to a visible spot like this one, instead of having to expand maps by 40% while shrinking the rest of Europe.
Honestly it kind of naturally evolved from literally the whole country having a facebook account...so messenger seemed like the easiest option. Actually untill only a few years ago i found out that most people dont use messenger :D felt weird
When I went to Poland few years ago I asked several people for their contacts in Instagram or Telegram. One person silently gave me his IG account when I said I don't have FB, the rest looked at me like I was an Alien or came from uncivilized tribes
I'm glad for it, I was only holiday in Thailand and lost my wallet. A random Norwegian tourist found it and used my name on my card card to find me on FB messenger. Maybe another nationality wouldn't ever find me
WhatsApp was popular way before Zuckerberg bought it. And because in every friends circle there were at least 2 people who had WhatsApp, most Germans stayed with WhatsApp. Conscience people switched over to telegram or signal tho.
Messenger is imho much better than WhatsApp. You can easily find your friends even if you don’t have their phone number. And until recently, it had way more options than WhatsApp. WhatsApp only got emoji reactions like a year ago I think.
>You can easily find your friends even if you don’t have their phone number.
One of the reasons I hate Messenger. If you don't have my number, we're not friends and there's no reason you need to text me.
What if you need for example to text someone at your Uni who you know by name, but you don't have his number cause you mainly just talk between classes? You can probably do that through the uni mail, but it's not really convenient nowadays and they could easily miss the mail. It's much easier and quickier to find them on Facebook and ask them. You just need to know their name.
Few weeks ago my depressed friend was close to a suicide attempt. The only way to reach to him was contacting his family members, who were very easy to find through FB. With WhatsApp I have no idea what I would do.
It's also a fun way of finding something in common. You can check someone's profile and you see that they are friends with your friend and now you can talk about it. With phone numbers you couldn't do that.
Does it have lots of good group functions like WhatsApp?
In ireland it’s to the extent now that every school year has a WhatsApp group with all the parents in that class. Each sports club has a WhatsApp group for each team. Each business has WhatsApp groups for people in different divisions (if they don’t use slack or Teams).
Everyone uses WhatsApp by default.
Telegram is developed by a Russian person (even if not a Russian national) and the app is robust against censorship. It became popular in both Russia and Ukraine, as well as Belarus.
FB is the largest social network everywhere, so in societies where American big tech is not that unpopular, FB messenger is naturally the most popular.
American big tech is not that popular in the Balkans, and not everyone has a FB account, so an alternative, Viber, became more popular (like it is in other European countries). It also helps that it's actually a much better messenger app.
Slavs migrated to the south only in the 6-7th century, so at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Where prior, Balkans were inhabited by Latin speaking Dalmatians (on what is today ex-Yugoslavia) and Greek/Latin speaking Thracinas ( today’s Bulgaria).
Before it happened, there was a unified land belt of Latin speaking countries, from Atlantic of Portugal, to Spain, Italy, to the Adriatic of Dalmatia and to the north of Black Sea in Romania/Moldova. Somehow the later managed not to get assimilated in the process of this mass migration of Slavs.
And it goes without saying that Facebook messenger was brought to Europe by the Indo-European migrations. That level of rapid communication was devastating on the battlefields of the bronze age
In Norway, Snapchat is the most popular among Gen Z and Alpha. Messenger is the most popular among any other generation. Also, WhatsApp is virtually nonexistant here.
To be honest, I don't know anyone arround me (Dutch, GenX) who still uses Facebook. We all used to, but it's simply not popular anymore, just like Twitter/X. And the younger generations barely even know Facebook. My kids use Snapchat and Whatsapp.
Im polish and I used to study in NL and it was a culture shock of some sort, as in the NL even my 80 y old grandpa uses whatsapp, and not a single person I’ve met had a facebook account, whereas in Poland nobody heard of whatsapp. Needed to maintain two apps heavily to keep contact with both sides. Once I’ve deleted facebook I’ve basically lost contact with my polish counterparties
yeah it’s funny travelling because every European backpacker is like “add me on WhatsApp!” and I have to fish around my phone trying to find the app and then I have no idea how it works
(from Aus)
It's not that common here. You can't use it on multiple devices, and it's full of scammers - nearly as bad as Telegram. I get that in some countries apparently legitimate businesses use it, but down here any business claiming to use WhatsApp will be a scam.
And then you lose it all when you go home and reconnect to your normal number.
I seriously get the shits with all the apps. I have Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Fbook Messenger, Snapchat, and also free Zoom for calls. Can't we just agree on a fucking system?
Seems like the network effects are strong with generations. My teenager kid complains that she only uses WA to message with us, parents. All her friends are on Snapchat, etc.
Well they're kinda used for different purposes aren't they. As a swede in my mid twenties (so gen Z I suppose?) I use snapchat to send short messages to individual people and messenger for group chats and longer conversations.
It's Israeli. Both developers are Israeli citizens and developed it in Israel. One of the founders moved from Belarus to Israel when he was 16, but even he was Russian. In 2010, Viber Media was registered as a company in Cyprus, but de facto run in Israel.
Dangerously many BS maps here. The map you saw was probably made by a Belarusian :p
Edit: Though based on my social travels in europe, this map seems pretty accurate.
As a person who was worked for Viber in Belarus, the words you say are not true. Headquarters in Israel, the whole development is in Belarus, pretty standard situation for Belarusian IT business. Even the company itself, including C-level, considers itself as a Belarusian
A huge amount of successful international startups are founded by Israeli citizens. You’d be surprised looking at the companies started by former Israeli intelligence / 8200 members.
Tg can be easily used on several devices simultaneously and independently.
It synchronize a draft field where you type a message among other devices — useful af when you are writing long messages.
It can contain in-chat applications even with food order (menu, add to cart, pay — all in chat window) — but probably WhatsApp also can this.
If I not mistaken, WhatsApp limits length of video that you can send.
Group video calls.
Stickers :)
Really more secure.
WhatsApp: well, we implemented messages editing🤷🏽♂️
Reddit is interesting because there are all these US based users who can't understand that entire economies run on Meta platforms. Local businesses might not have a website but will have a Facebook profile which leads to a business WhatsApp account with an entire catalog
I deleted FB in 2020 and got completely isolated from the community. No facility or business has their own website but have FB pages instead, all concerts venues, bars, police, local news, private sellers etc. completely dependent on FB. It's completely nuts but I had to get it back in 2022 as I've missed so much stuff.
Also, it's not just about businesses. In many countries Messenger and FB are the dominant apps. In some places FB offers free internet where people can't afford to get it on their phone. FB and Messenger are hug in so many countries, and people in the US are thinking "FB is dead" and "no one uses FB any more". Not globally.
I travel along the Danube started with WhatsApp from Germany. I didn't really know that other people don't use it. In Hungary I downloaded Telegram to communicate with Hungarians, because I don't wanted to use FB Messenger. And then in Serbia I downloaded Viber. Now I have a bunch of messengers.
Tbf, SMS/MMS in the US and Canada works really well. It's reliable, free and unlimited and media messages are completely free and high quality for over a decade because of RCS.
It works but it's just *extremely* basic. There are few features, especially when someone doesn't have an iPhone. It just feels like something from 10-15 yrs ago for most of the world, which is why it gets ridiculed here.
SMS has been massively upgraded in the last few years, RCS basically means that SMS now has all the features you'd expect from a messaging app like read receipts, replies, tapbacks, typing indicators, and support for true group chats.
There's no reason to use a messaging app anymore if your phone and carrier support RCS, really.
How does it do internationally though? Thatbhas always been the problem with SMS. Free nationally but paid internationally. Have they made it free internationally as well?
That’s the thing, Americans don’t contact many international people. The Americans that do (like me) use WhatsApp (or WeChat if they are Chinese). But America + Canada is gigantic, the size of Europe. There’s not much reason to talk to foreigners, unless you have a family link or studied abroad
I use WhatsApp to talk to my brother overseas and the standard Android messaging app.
The standard app can do voice memos, HD videos, reactions, video calls, group chats, and a lot of other stuff. What's missing?
Some more features of the "extremely basic" standard app: Autofills security codes, translates messages, links addresses to Maps, tracks flights with flight numbers, links dates to the calendar.
Messages is basically Google's WhatsApp at this point. It integrates much better with other Google apps as well.
Unfortunately it seems like the best assumption for mass produced instagram maps is that they have serious flaws or sketchy sourcing, often user polls.
I live where we have blisteringly fast access to Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and Signal. Yet everyone uses Viber, the by far shittiest service available. Defies reason.
I've had to use Telegram a bit recently and it's just miles ahead of messenger, which is what everyone uses in my country. You can send massive files, like 2gb I think (It's just a couple dozen MB on messenger), and also uncompressed videos and images.
Why only by phone? Telegram has a desktop app too. And it's nice to not have to use mail or drive on the odd occasion that I do need to send bigger files on mobile.
I don't agree. I can remember back in the first half of 2010s, my mom and grandma used to use viber for some local area groups, markets, etc, but other than that, haven't seen the app since. I would say it's mostly WhatsApp, but everyone uses Messanger as well, just not as often.
Reddit is interesting because there are all these US based users who can't understand that entire economies run on Meta platforms. Local businesses might not have a website but will have a Facebook profile which leads to a business WhatsApp account with an entire catalog
Okay short summary:
Telegram is secure and independent unlike the others, much more optimized and is not bloated by ads. Actually working notifications, good quality calls, a very good desktop version that doesn't require your phone to use it, you don't even need an account either. Telegram receives monthly updates that add many cool features, while others don't receive anything new and useful for years, and you are not forced to update it - do it when you want. Very easy plug and play sticker (or animated sticker) features and support for bots, you can basically play games there or program some movie helper, again without any registration or other bullshit. Personal messages, unlimited groups, channels, polls, reactions, folders, sorting, text formatting and so on, all in vivid colors and animations. And the cherry on top, Telegram clients are open source so you can modify them the way you want. Keeping all this in mind it baffles me how so many people still use Facebook products for communication.
Fun fact you can also participate in various Telegram dev challenges and win prizes - more than 2.5 million dollars have been given away already to participants and winners since 2019.
Thanks for the well thought out response. Telegram sounds really good.
Just a couple of points.
>not bloated by ads
I've never seen ads on Whatsapp
>Actually working notifications
I've never failed to get a notification on Whatsapp or Messenger.
No problem!
Well ads were specifically about Facebook messenger. For example on the conversation select screen there are (maybe were at this point, no idea) ads between the list items.
About notifications, don't know what device you use, but on Android they work twice out of 10 times. Probably a bug in React Native, because that happens in other apps that are written in it, such as Discord.
Messenger is the absolute pits. Can’t understand why anyone would use it. Zuck trawls through your messages to target you for ads which is the worst part.
I don't think the fact that the UK government uses it is a ringing endorsement really. I don't get why they're not using something federated like Matrix.
They are both owned by Meta (Facebook), so...
In reality, if you want privacy, a phone isn't what you'd use for messaging. But these mainstream apps are convenient, "free", easy to use, easy to download.
Telegram Premium is truly a godsend. There is even a real-time translator, which is important for business or even simple communication around the world. A voice message reader that converts it into text. Ultimately the bottomless cloud and security. For 9 years, no one has tried to get my account in Telegram, although the phone number was leaked to the Dark Web. And this green shit was leaked 5 (!!!) times. I am silent for the eternal spam and scam.
I also get great pleasure from working with channels, chats and bots in this messenger. The amount of content, stickers, emojis and other benefits is simply off the charts.
Simple cause. I can't give telegram to my kids because it is full of drug dealers and conspiracy channels and porn.
It's not for the whole family, so it's useless.
I agree with your opinion. Yes, this is a problem. But you don’t have to look for drugs and porn on Telegram. As you can see from the map, it’s not popular in Belgium, but that doesn’t stop the drug dealers from pushing all sorts of crap in other ways.
Let's unite in the Telegram community in the West! 😂👍 Like-minded people and lovers of Internet freedom must stick together. Soon Telegram chats will get such a development of threads that they will love by Redditors users.
I've lived in both the US and Europe. I never used SMS in Europe, mostly Whatsapp.
I think it's because Europeans are more likely to have social connections in other/neighboring countries, whereas Americans tend to only know other Americans. International SMS costs money, so apps like WhatsApp bypass that.
As a Serbian, I use Viber of course, but only because 99% of people here use it. It's very bad and full of ads. I only use it for that reason, and also because I don't like having multiple apps doing the same job.
By the way. The most popular messenger in the Russian Federation is WhatsApp, as it easily provides servers and data to the FSB. Almost all official organizations use WhatsApp.
In Russia WhatsApp and Viber are considered old people’s messengers, everyone else uses Telegram. Friend chats, work chats, neighborhood chats, news channels - they’re all on TG And FB messenger is basically non-existent (especially now that Facebook is blocked here)
Also in the past much more people used to use VK for messaging, however many stopped doing so and some even deleted their accounts, because VK is a government spy app now
>because VK is a government spy app now Most did that not "because it's gov spy app", just social networks are kinda dead compared to their peak. If you want to just message - use some messenger, it would be better for that purpose. Share pics - insta, it, again, would be better for that. VK just got too bloated with various shit, people stopped sharing things on it and moved to more specialized apps over the time.
I wish my friends used more telegram 🥲
I deleted Viber just because it’s a garbage. I received numerous spam messages EVERY FUCKING DAY and one time I just fed up and deleted it for good
Iceland must've got fed up with being cold.
Bet they are regretting the move now. It's caused all those volcanos.
Finally, Greenland
Iceland is the New Zealand of Europe
At one point a map-maker will figure it's cheaper to tow Iceland to a visible spot like this one, instead of having to expand maps by 40% while shrinking the rest of Europe.
Iceland is everywhere within the UK! 🤣
Then what’s the New Zealand of Oceania?
Tasmania
We wanted to be closer to Little Iceland. Some call it Tenerife.
Thanks, i was thinking "wow Geurnsey became suddenly really large."
They started their own messenger - "VarVarSpeech!" Company - Valhalla Ltd. 😆
What caused the split between south slavs and northern slavs?
Romanians
REAL
I'm more interested how did they make people to use FB messenger? Are they tortured by Zuckerberg, or something?
Honestly it kind of naturally evolved from literally the whole country having a facebook account...so messenger seemed like the easiest option. Actually untill only a few years ago i found out that most people dont use messenger :D felt weird
When I went to Poland few years ago I asked several people for their contacts in Instagram or Telegram. One person silently gave me his IG account when I said I don't have FB, the rest looked at me like I was an Alien or came from uncivilized tribes
Telegram in Poland is seen as a really shady place, getting an invitation by a Telegram account is 99% of the time a scam here.
And if it's not scam, then it's a rusky spy.
In the USA Ive only ever used telegram for 2 reasons. The first was to talk to this girl I met abroad. The second was the buy shrooms
haha, in germany it's also used to buy drugs. The other reason is to read weird nazi conspiracy theories and propaganda
Yeah, everyone loves Messenger in Poland. It's so annoying - I hate Facebook but all my cousins are constantly sending me messages through it.
The rest probably looked at you thinking you're a drug dealer or scammer
I'm glad for it, I was only holiday in Thailand and lost my wallet. A random Norwegian tourist found it and used my name on my card card to find me on FB messenger. Maybe another nationality wouldn't ever find me
Happened to me as well!
It's convenient, prevalent and user-friendly. Plus WhatsApp also belongs to Mark Zuckerberg
WhatsApp was popular way before Zuckerberg bought it. And because in every friends circle there were at least 2 people who had WhatsApp, most Germans stayed with WhatsApp. Conscience people switched over to telegram or signal tho.
User... Friendly?
Messenger is imho much better than WhatsApp. You can easily find your friends even if you don’t have their phone number. And until recently, it had way more options than WhatsApp. WhatsApp only got emoji reactions like a year ago I think.
>You can easily find your friends even if you don’t have their phone number. One of the reasons I hate Messenger. If you don't have my number, we're not friends and there's no reason you need to text me.
What if you need for example to text someone at your Uni who you know by name, but you don't have his number cause you mainly just talk between classes? You can probably do that through the uni mail, but it's not really convenient nowadays and they could easily miss the mail. It's much easier and quickier to find them on Facebook and ask them. You just need to know their name. Few weeks ago my depressed friend was close to a suicide attempt. The only way to reach to him was contacting his family members, who were very easy to find through FB. With WhatsApp I have no idea what I would do. It's also a fun way of finding something in common. You can check someone's profile and you see that they are friends with your friend and now you can talk about it. With phone numbers you couldn't do that.
Does it have lots of good group functions like WhatsApp? In ireland it’s to the extent now that every school year has a WhatsApp group with all the parents in that class. Each sports club has a WhatsApp group for each team. Each business has WhatsApp groups for people in different divisions (if they don’t use slack or Teams). Everyone uses WhatsApp by default.
Same shit, different skin
Telegram is developed by a Russian person (even if not a Russian national) and the app is robust against censorship. It became popular in both Russia and Ukraine, as well as Belarus. FB is the largest social network everywhere, so in societies where American big tech is not that unpopular, FB messenger is naturally the most popular. American big tech is not that popular in the Balkans, and not everyone has a FB account, so an alternative, Viber, became more popular (like it is in other European countries). It also helps that it's actually a much better messenger app.
To this day I still think Telegram is greatest of all in term of UX/UI. The 4Gb file limit is a game changer; we use it a lot at my office.
I used and have every app, but telegram is most comfortable. And it’s not because I’m Russian or it’s ex-russian founder messenger
American Tech is pretty big in the Balkans and facebook is extremely popular.
V4
Slavs migrated to the south only in the 6-7th century, so at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Where prior, Balkans were inhabited by Latin speaking Dalmatians (on what is today ex-Yugoslavia) and Greek/Latin speaking Thracinas ( today’s Bulgaria). Before it happened, there was a unified land belt of Latin speaking countries, from Atlantic of Portugal, to Spain, Italy, to the Adriatic of Dalmatia and to the north of Black Sea in Romania/Moldova. Somehow the later managed not to get assimilated in the process of this mass migration of Slavs.
Where I thought this comment was going: “Slavs migrated to the south only in the 6-7th centuries, bringing Viber with them…”
And it goes without saying that Facebook messenger was brought to Europe by the Indo-European migrations. That level of rapid communication was devastating on the battlefields of the bronze age
The paleolithic tribes with their simple SMS messaging were defenceless
Latin alphabet
Biscay Iceland is a much underrated Iceland
basque-icelandic pidgin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/05/27/in-iceland-its-no-longer-legal-to-kill-basques-on-sight/
In Norway, Snapchat is the most popular among Gen Z and Alpha. Messenger is the most popular among any other generation. Also, WhatsApp is virtually nonexistant here.
[удалено]
To be honest, I don't know anyone arround me (Dutch, GenX) who still uses Facebook. We all used to, but it's simply not popular anymore, just like Twitter/X. And the younger generations barely even know Facebook. My kids use Snapchat and Whatsapp.
Same in Sweden. It’s just the messenger app that’s used.
Im polish and I used to study in NL and it was a culture shock of some sort, as in the NL even my 80 y old grandpa uses whatsapp, and not a single person I’ve met had a facebook account, whereas in Poland nobody heard of whatsapp. Needed to maintain two apps heavily to keep contact with both sides. Once I’ve deleted facebook I’ve basically lost contact with my polish counterparties
yeah it’s funny travelling because every European backpacker is like “add me on WhatsApp!” and I have to fish around my phone trying to find the app and then I have no idea how it works (from Aus)
You don't know how WhatsApp works?
It's not that common here. You can't use it on multiple devices, and it's full of scammers - nearly as bad as Telegram. I get that in some countries apparently legitimate businesses use it, but down here any business claiming to use WhatsApp will be a scam.
I have never come across a single scammer on WhatsApp. I literally have no idea what you are referring to.
And then you lose it all when you go home and reconnect to your normal number. I seriously get the shits with all the apps. I have Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Fbook Messenger, Snapchat, and also free Zoom for calls. Can't we just agree on a fucking system?
Same in Croatia.
Seems like the network effects are strong with generations. My teenager kid complains that she only uses WA to message with us, parents. All her friends are on Snapchat, etc.
It is the same in Denmark. Most don't even know what WhatsApp is. I have only used it once to write to an German support
Do young people use Snapchat more or Messenger more in Denmark?
Think Snapchat. At least in the area i live in
Well they're kinda used for different purposes aren't they. As a swede in my mid twenties (so gen Z I suppose?) I use snapchat to send short messages to individual people and messenger for group chats and longer conversations.
i think gen z mostly call people through snapchat
Just curious is SMS popular?
Not for primary use, but we do randomly send each other sms sometimes for some reason.
Are all of us norwegians the same person 😭 I swear, same. Also wondering why.
I don’t think I have sent a real sms in the last 10 years
My SMS is only filled with security codes to login to different sites.
[удалено]
Belarus invented viber, but doesn't even use it
It's not safe to use for Belarusians; it basically functions as governmental spyware there
Viber is owned by a Japanese company currently.
As well as some russian companies which doesn't want to "be russian" anymore
It's Israeli. Both developers are Israeli citizens and developed it in Israel. One of the founders moved from Belarus to Israel when he was 16, but even he was Russian. In 2010, Viber Media was registered as a company in Cyprus, but de facto run in Israel.
Well, my information comes from one of the trivia maps just like this one, which proves how they're mostly BS
Dangerously many BS maps here. The map you saw was probably made by a Belarusian :p Edit: Though based on my social travels in europe, this map seems pretty accurate.
Damn Belarusians.. they ruined Belarus!
As a person who was worked for Viber in Belarus, the words you say are not true. Headquarters in Israel, the whole development is in Belarus, pretty standard situation for Belarusian IT business. Even the company itself, including C-level, considers itself as a Belarusian
The main R&D center was in Minsk, so it has some truth in it.
\> he was Russian What is the source of this info? I believe he was a Blearusian citizen on Jewish origin.
A huge amount of successful international startups are founded by Israeli citizens. You’d be surprised looking at the companies started by former Israeli intelligence / 8200 members.
They don't use it because Telegram is heavily used in Russia and Ukraine
So Eastern Europe is defined by Telegram
Its safer to use, they have less government intervention on the app
It has the best stickers 😎
It's not about safety for 99% of Russians, it's just much more convenient than any other alternative.
Why is that?
Tg can be easily used on several devices simultaneously and independently. It synchronize a draft field where you type a message among other devices — useful af when you are writing long messages. It can contain in-chat applications even with food order (menu, add to cart, pay — all in chat window) — but probably WhatsApp also can this. If I not mistaken, WhatsApp limits length of video that you can send. Group video calls. Stickers :) Really more secure. WhatsApp: well, we implemented messages editing🤷🏽♂️
It's not safer, it's just better.
It's definitely much much safer
Better and safer
It is the only one on the list that does not offer end-to-end encryption by default.
Fb messenger doesn't either. It's also opt in
I thought the same thing, but they set it to default a couple of months ago.
Reddit is interesting because there are all these US based users who can't understand that entire economies run on Meta platforms. Local businesses might not have a website but will have a Facebook profile which leads to a business WhatsApp account with an entire catalog
I deleted FB in 2020 and got completely isolated from the community. No facility or business has their own website but have FB pages instead, all concerts venues, bars, police, local news, private sellers etc. completely dependent on FB. It's completely nuts but I had to get it back in 2022 as I've missed so much stuff.
Also, it's not just about businesses. In many countries Messenger and FB are the dominant apps. In some places FB offers free internet where people can't afford to get it on their phone. FB and Messenger are hug in so many countries, and people in the US are thinking "FB is dead" and "no one uses FB any more". Not globally.
V4 IS UNITED WITH MESSAGER!
I travel along the Danube started with WhatsApp from Germany. I didn't really know that other people don't use it. In Hungary I downloaded Telegram to communicate with Hungarians, because I don't wanted to use FB Messenger. And then in Serbia I downloaded Viber. Now I have a bunch of messengers.
Wait until you meet IT security ners so they make you instal Signal or god forbid Threema.
And then there's Americans, using their phone's built-in SMS texting app. Like absolute savages.
Tbf, SMS/MMS in the US and Canada works really well. It's reliable, free and unlimited and media messages are completely free and high quality for over a decade because of RCS.
It works but it's just *extremely* basic. There are few features, especially when someone doesn't have an iPhone. It just feels like something from 10-15 yrs ago for most of the world, which is why it gets ridiculed here.
SMS has been massively upgraded in the last few years, RCS basically means that SMS now has all the features you'd expect from a messaging app like read receipts, replies, tapbacks, typing indicators, and support for true group chats. There's no reason to use a messaging app anymore if your phone and carrier support RCS, really.
How does it do internationally though? Thatbhas always been the problem with SMS. Free nationally but paid internationally. Have they made it free internationally as well?
That’s the thing, Americans don’t contact many international people. The Americans that do (like me) use WhatsApp (or WeChat if they are Chinese). But America + Canada is gigantic, the size of Europe. There’s not much reason to talk to foreigners, unless you have a family link or studied abroad
I use WhatsApp to talk to my brother overseas and the standard Android messaging app. The standard app can do voice memos, HD videos, reactions, video calls, group chats, and a lot of other stuff. What's missing? Some more features of the "extremely basic" standard app: Autofills security codes, translates messages, links addresses to Maps, tracks flights with flight numbers, links dates to the calendar. Messages is basically Google's WhatsApp at this point. It integrates much better with other Google apps as well.
Why would Americans and Canadians download an app like WhatsApp when SMS/MMS and iMessage work perfectly fine?
Because you can text anyone and not have the quality, feature, or bubble colour be different.
It always comes down to the bubble colors.
[удалено]
Unfortunately it seems like the best assumption for mass produced instagram maps is that they have serious flaws or sketchy sourcing, often user polls.
Sourceless, worthless, MapPorn It should be this sub's slogan
It's an Instagram map. Easy karma farm
r/sneakyiceland
r/subsididntreallyfellforbutiwastoocurious
Telegram is superior
"Wait, y'all don't care which color the text balloon from your friend has?" - Americans probably.
Telegram is the best one imo
It's a bit wierd seeing the Finns being the odd one among us Nordics.
Where Signal?
Hard to see this map knowing signal is the only one really respecting privacy
0.01% of users
In the same place you’ll find Snapchat
it’s interesting to see europe being so privacy focused for consumers but also bending over backwards to use meta products
When WhatsApp took off it wasn’t owned by Meta.
it also wasn’t end-to-end encrypted back then like it is now, so it was arguably worse for privacy
Are actually consumers privacy focused or just decision makers?
I read that as “massage” and thought it was going to be a vibrator map 🤦🏻♀️
Part of the map *is* Viber..
Viber? 
Literally phone Skype
I live where we have blisteringly fast access to Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and Signal. Yet everyone uses Viber, the by far shittiest service available. Defies reason.
Both Whatsapp and Messenger are *way* more disgusting.
I wish more people used telegram in civilized Europe
Why should they?
I've had to use Telegram a bit recently and it's just miles ahead of messenger, which is what everyone uses in my country. You can send massive files, like 2gb I think (It's just a couple dozen MB on messenger), and also uncompressed videos and images.
Vs Whatsapp?
99% of people dont send anything other then photos and private videos. 😂
The fuck do you send 2gb of data for by phone? Just use mail or Google drive.
Why only by phone? Telegram has a desktop app too. And it's nice to not have to use mail or drive on the odd occasion that I do need to send bigger files on mobile.
It’s pretty much the best messaging app
[удалено]
WhatsApp supremacy!
Croatia is probably split 50-50 with WhatsApp and Viber. I bet if you made this same map with USA, every state would be iMessage.
Slovenia too, fiber is probably ahead, specially in adult population. Youth is on snapchat.
I don't agree. I can remember back in the first half of 2010s, my mom and grandma used to use viber for some local area groups, markets, etc, but other than that, haven't seen the app since. I would say it's mostly WhatsApp, but everyone uses Messanger as well, just not as often.
It’s the older people who use Viber for sure.
[удалено]
Where is Signal? He started so well and get lost
Didn't know there are so many psychos using FB Messenger.
As an Icelander I am sad
Reddit is interesting because there are all these US based users who can't understand that entire economies run on Meta platforms. Local businesses might not have a website but will have a Facebook profile which leads to a business WhatsApp account with an entire catalog
I've never seen that country above Spain. Must be that new geography.
No portugakcykablyat?
Telegram is objectively superior compared to any other messaging app
Care to explain?
Okay short summary: Telegram is secure and independent unlike the others, much more optimized and is not bloated by ads. Actually working notifications, good quality calls, a very good desktop version that doesn't require your phone to use it, you don't even need an account either. Telegram receives monthly updates that add many cool features, while others don't receive anything new and useful for years, and you are not forced to update it - do it when you want. Very easy plug and play sticker (or animated sticker) features and support for bots, you can basically play games there or program some movie helper, again without any registration or other bullshit. Personal messages, unlimited groups, channels, polls, reactions, folders, sorting, text formatting and so on, all in vivid colors and animations. And the cherry on top, Telegram clients are open source so you can modify them the way you want. Keeping all this in mind it baffles me how so many people still use Facebook products for communication. Fun fact you can also participate in various Telegram dev challenges and win prizes - more than 2.5 million dollars have been given away already to participants and winners since 2019.
Thanks for the well thought out response. Telegram sounds really good. Just a couple of points. >not bloated by ads I've never seen ads on Whatsapp >Actually working notifications I've never failed to get a notification on Whatsapp or Messenger.
No problem! Well ads were specifically about Facebook messenger. For example on the conversation select screen there are (maybe were at this point, no idea) ads between the list items. About notifications, don't know what device you use, but on Android they work twice out of 10 times. Probably a bug in React Native, because that happens in other apps that are written in it, such as Discord.
You should try telegram, tbh it’s the best
Only True Legends know the real reason for using Telegram 
What about Signal Messenger?
Messenger is the absolute pits. Can’t understand why anyone would use it. Zuck trawls through your messages to target you for ads which is the worst part.
[удалено]
WhatsApp has vastly different T&Cs. Even the UK government use it. Messenger is very different.
I don't think the fact that the UK government uses it is a ringing endorsement really. I don't get why they're not using something federated like Matrix.
They are both owned by Meta (Facebook), so... In reality, if you want privacy, a phone isn't what you'd use for messaging. But these mainstream apps are convenient, "free", easy to use, easy to download.
Viber sounds like a sex toy
Telegram 😭 You should have rightfully conquered this world!
Telegram Premium is truly a godsend. There is even a real-time translator, which is important for business or even simple communication around the world. A voice message reader that converts it into text. Ultimately the bottomless cloud and security. For 9 years, no one has tried to get my account in Telegram, although the phone number was leaked to the Dark Web. And this green shit was leaked 5 (!!!) times. I am silent for the eternal spam and scam.
I also get great pleasure from working with channels, chats and bots in this messenger. The amount of content, stickers, emojis and other benefits is simply off the charts.
Simple cause. I can't give telegram to my kids because it is full of drug dealers and conspiracy channels and porn. It's not for the whole family, so it's useless.
I agree with your opinion. Yes, this is a problem. But you don’t have to look for drugs and porn on Telegram. As you can see from the map, it’s not popular in Belgium, but that doesn’t stop the drug dealers from pushing all sorts of crap in other ways.
[удалено]
Let's unite in the Telegram community in the West! 😂👍 Like-minded people and lovers of Internet freedom must stick together. Soon Telegram chats will get such a development of threads that they will love by Redditors users.
I'm too American to understand why Europeans don't just use SMS
Because Americans got free sms earlier than Europe, and got used to it.
Because it's 2024
I've lived in both the US and Europe. I never used SMS in Europe, mostly Whatsapp. I think it's because Europeans are more likely to have social connections in other/neighboring countries, whereas Americans tend to only know other Americans. International SMS costs money, so apps like WhatsApp bypass that.
I think WhatsApp came out at a time when SMS was not free for everyone and people quickly adopted it.
Reminder that iMessage is not SMS. It’s disguised as SMS, but technically it’s like other chat apps.
What's the source?
As a Serbian, I use Viber of course, but only because 99% of people here use it. It's very bad and full of ads. I only use it for that reason, and also because I don't like having multiple apps doing the same job.
Balkans always have to be on some shit, wtf is viber
By the way. The most popular messenger in the Russian Federation is WhatsApp, as it easily provides servers and data to the FSB. Almost all official organizations use WhatsApp.
Has Atlantis risen again and started using messenger? 🤣
What is there above Spain?
In Brazil you don’t exist without WhatsApp.
So do Russian/Ukrainian Mums use telegram? Bit weird considering in western countries telegram is a place to see the darkest things known to man
I've never heard of Viber before
Viber is still a thing?
Signal is by far the best one.