WhatsApp was the first mobile private messaging service to gain critical mass. Then, Meta (formerly Facebook) bought the platform. Now, 100 million people use WhatsApp each month, and it's easy to understand why. I like WhatsApp's easy-to-use interface and fun features, but the app requires your real phone number and birthdate to sign up, which is more information than many anonymous texters are willing to share. Privacy-focused Signal doesn't have those requirements, so it edges out WhatsApp to earn our Editors' Choice award for private messaging apps.

Can You Trust WhatsApp?

Trust is the foundation of any private messaging app, and WhatsApp does a lot to earn yours. For one thing, it's built on the tried-and-tested Signal Protocol to send and receive end-to-end-encrypted (E2EE) messages. That means only the sender and recipient can read WhatsApp messages. Not even the people at WhatsApp (and, by extension, Meta) can read your personal messages. Of course, that goes out the window if someone in the conversation screenshots your messages or a hacker takes over your account, but barring those scenarios, E2EE messaging is a safe and secure option for most people.

The problem with trusting WhatsApp isn't about the app's inherent security. Instead, I'm more concerned that WhatsApp is owned by Meta. For years, Meta has been plagued by scandals involving customer data collection. That said, WhatsApp appears to operate independently of Meta and has its own privacy policy.

WhatsApp goes to great lengths to explain Meta's insight into WhatsApp activities in the policy. There's even an FAQ devoted to the subject. According to WhatsApp, Meta cannot see your contacts or messages, but it can see your phone number, IP address, and any interactions with businesses on WhatsApp. That's a lot of identifying information, but it's typical of invasive social apps.

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Remember, Meta (and WhatsApp) cannot control what corporate partners do with your data. To ensure customers know they are speaking with a business entity rather than a personal contact, WhatsApp displays a "business account" label in the chat window.

Getting Started With WhatsApp

You can use WhatsApp on most mobile and desktop devices, as well as on the web. As with Signal and Telegram, you need a valid phone number to set up a WhatsApp account. During the previous review period, I was able to sign up using a Google Voice number, but this time, WhatsApp denied me, claiming that the number is not valid.

You also have to divulge your birthdate, which is a new requirement I haven't encountered while testing other secure messaging apps.

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Though private messaging apps help keep your messages secure, remember that you aren't engaging in anonymous texting unless you can hide all your information. With Signal and Telegram, you can create a username to hide your phone number from contacts after signing up, which adds a layer of anonymity.

Like other messengers, WhatsApp requests access to your mobile device's Contacts list when you sign up. WhatsApp then creates a separate, app-specific Contact List for you that syncs across your devices. You can turn off Contact syncing in the app by going to Settings > Privacy > Contacts. To its credit, WhatsApp seems to do a pretty good job of protecting the privacy of your Contacts list, using cryptographic hashes rather than storing phone numbers on its servers.

On your WhatsApp dashboard, you'll notice a bright blue circle hovering near the bottom of the screen. WhatsApp claims that Meta AI will collect message content that people share with it, so if you don't want your calls, chats, images, or videos to be used to train Meta's AI, avoid using this feature. Otherwise, you can use the chatbot to generate simple images or get quick answers to questions.

Settings

After signing in to your new account, you can head to the Account section in the app's Settings menu to create an avatar, sort your communities, contacts, or groups into Lists, send a broadcast message, or link your WhatsApp account to a new device. You can also add a PIN to your account for multi-factor authentication. In future updates, I'd like to see support for other options, such as an authenticator app or a security key.

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You can use your WhatsApp account on multiple devices by completing the device linking process. To do it yourself, tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen, generate a QR code, and scan it with your primary device. I was able to link an iPhone to the web app without any trouble.

Privacy

Now, let's look at some other highlights of the Settings menu, starting with the Privacy menu. I recommend skipping the individual privacy settings at first and scrolling down to the Privacy Checkup button. From there, follow the steps to choose who can contact you, add you to groups, see your online status and profile photo, and receive your read receipts. You can also set a timer for disappearing messages and back up your chat history.

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When you allow WhatsApp to access your phone's Contact list, you'll discover that every person you've ever interacted with IRL is probably on WhatsApp. Thankfully, you can block anyone who messages you on WhatsApp (and report spam). 

In the Privacy menu on Android and iOS, there's a feature called Chat Lock that lets you hide conversations from view by locking the chat behind a layer of authentication. To lock a chat, swipe left on the conversation you want to lock. Tap the three dots and choose Lock Chat. From there, use biometric authentication, such as Apple's Face ID, to hide the chat window in a folder called Locked Chats.

Next, create a secret code in the folder's settings menu. Enter that code in the app's search bar to access the conversation. The content and contacts for new messages you get in a locked chat window will be hidden.

A visit to the Advanced section of the Privacy menu reveals three powerful privacy options you'll want to try for yourself. First, toggle on the option to block messages from unknown accounts. This feature should cut down the number of scam or spam messages you receive while using the app. Next, toggle on "Protect IP address in calls," which means WhatsApp relays your calls through its servers. I didn't test this feature, but WhatsApp cautions that the setting may affect call quality. The final toggle to enable is "Disable link previews," which helps to protect your IP from being divulged to third-party websites.

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Chats

The Chats section lets you change the appearance of your chat window by choosing a new theme, chat color, or wallpaper. You can also use Meta AI to generate new chat themes. A cool accessibility setting: you can turn off animations for emoji, GIFs, and stickers in this section, too.

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In the Chats menu, you can transfer all your chats to another Android or iPhone device, or archive, clear, or delete your conversations. You can also create E2EE backups of your chats using the Chat Backup function. It's a feature that recently arrived in Signal, but backups have been part of WhatsApp for quite a while. On Signal, only encrypted backups are available, while WhatsApp offers both unencrypted and encrypted backups. I suggest using E2EE backups if you're regularly backing up your conversations. Unencrypted backups are appropriate if you're just trying to retain your chat history while switching to a new phone.

WhatsApp can create transcripts of your voice messages, but that feature is off by default. Turn it on from the Chats menu. There's also a section called Private Processing, in which Meta AI processes your chat messages and provides writing assistance or creates message summaries for you. According to Meta, this processing occurs off your device, but in a "confidential and secure environment where no one, not even Meta or WhatsApp, can read or access your personal messages." Currently, Meta AI's writing assistant is only available for English-language conversations.

Storage

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This is the section where you can see how much space your in-app photos and videos are taking up on your device. You can also turn on disappearing messages by visiting Storage > Manage storage > Turn on disappearing messages. The message timer options are 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days, and you can choose different delete times for certain conversations, which is very helpful.

Private Messaging

As with most messaging platforms, WhatsApp places conversations in speech bubbles, with your posts on the right and recipients on the left. You can opt in or out of read receipts from Settings and change the background of Chats. WhatsApp also lets you block screenshots for images you mark as view-once and set default message durations, giving you lots of control over your messages.

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On iOS, the plus symbol beside the text field in the chat window lets you add contact or location information, files, event information, photos, a poll, or generate new images using Meta AI. You can also tap the microphone icon next to the camera in the chat window to record and send voice memos.

Tap the rounded square icon in the text field for access to emoji, reaction GIFs, and WhatsApp's robust collection of stickers, both static and animated. You can browse your list of saved stickers, add new ones, and download apps that add new stickers. Signal and Telegram also offer chat stickers, though Telegram offers a lot more stickers as part of its paid Premium tier.

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Statuses take a page from social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, letting you create short videos that expire after 24 hours. You can send audio, GIFs, links, photos, text, and videos as Status messages, adding embellishments with the built-in image editor. Before you send out your Status, you can specify who can or cannot see it, sparing your grandmother your latest and dankest memes.

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Under Status updates are Channel updates. Channels are news pages run by governments, celebrity accounts, or news organizations. Following channels on WhatsApp is a good way to stay on top of news, but it's not really a social aspect of the app, since you can only react to posts with emoji; comments are not allowed.

Group Chats

WhatsApp's approach to community building favors communication among people who already know each other rather than helping people discover new people to chat with. For example, you can only invite people to groups if they're in your contact list, or if you know their name or phone number. You can also create communities and invite groups or people you know. On a social media platform, these barriers to entry would be off-putting, but on a secure messaging app, maintaining privacy should always be the primary directive.

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Creating groups in WhatsApp is simple. Select people from your contacts, give the group a name, and you're ready to start a conversation. The person who creates the group is the administrator, and an admin can designate other group members as admins at any time. You can add up to 1000 people to your group.

Administrators can add new members manually, export a QR code, or create invitation links to the group chat. I like that you can set a timer to determine how long messages remain in each group.

WhatsApp has other useful settings for group chats, such as the event planning option. Instead of scrolling through chats to find times and dates to meet up with your friends, WhatsApp lets you plan future dates, meetings, or parties right in the chat window. Just tap the plus button, create your event, and all group members can register a response. You can also create polls to gather quick responses from the members of your chat group.

WhatsApp also has a Communities feature. These chats include additional management tools for slightly larger groups. They can support up to 1024 chatters and up to 32 people in video calls.

Voice and Video Chat

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WhatsApp has a host of fun features, including AI-generated avatars, backgrounds, and filters to liven up your video calls. I tested WhatsApp's audio and video calls using the iOS app. The video quality was soft and grainy despite both callers being on the same Wi-Fi network. Like Signal, you can switch between your phone's front and back cameras, share your screen, and turn off your camera during a call to switch to an audio-only setting. You can also minimize the call window to a type-chat window.

New chat notifications appear as pop-ups during calls unless you disable them in the app's Settings menu. I like how easy it is to screen share with other WhatsApp call participants, but if you want to ensure that your private conversations stay secret, disable your chat notifications while sharing your screen.

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Each Chat or Group Chat can be used to start a new voice or video call. Afterward, the Calls section of the main screen logs your calls for easy access in the future. WhatsApp's documentation shows video calls can support up to 32 participants. Group calls are similar to Discord in that all Group chat members can see when a call starts and join it at their convenience.