5 Ways Telegram is better than WhatsApp
Even though WhatsApp has maintained its dominance over the last decade, tech enthusiasts alike admit Telegram is a far better app in terms of features. WhatsApp over the last few years has been playing catchup to Telegram, but with the lion-share of the market, it’s hard for Telegram to become the go-to messaging app in most countries. This article will elaborate on why Telegram is the better of the two.
Channels:
The biggest thing making Telegram relevant to this day is its Channels. This is different from groups, where everybody participates in the chat. Channels are another form of group chats but are controlled by the creator or selected persons, chosen by the creator.
The creator controls what goes on on the website. They decide what the channel is about and provide content that will entice members or visitors to stick around. Think of it like a YouTube channel or Instagram page, but in a chat form. If the channel is about comedy, the creator will share funny videos or pictures however way they choose.
Channels could be about anything from comedy, betting, and learning tools to free games and music. This isn’t available on WhatsApp yet, Meta may steal this in the future.
Sharing Large Files:
While WhatsApp’s file sharing limit is 16MB, you can share any file size on Telegram. There are no restrictions on how big a video you’re sending should be. If you try to send a file over 16MB on WhatsApp, you’ll receive an error message telling you the file size is too big. The way around this is to upload via Google Drive or any other cloud storage service and then send them a download link.
This feature makes Channels work smoothly. For instance, in the free games channels, files over 1GB are shared daily, downloadable on both PC and mobile. The download speeds depend on your network since Telegram has no network download limits.
Search Globally:
Telegram’s extensive search function allows users to search the entire Telegram servers for groups, channels, and even files. This helps users to find channels that align with their interests and likes. WhatsApp doesn’t have this feature; the search only allows users to find contacts and messages already on the phone.
Say you’re an anime fan and you’re looking for anime channels, you can type that in the search box and Telegram will list channels with this theme or title. You won’t have access to private channels unless they’re temporarily open to accepting new members.
Saved Messages:
Telegram allows you to message yourself in the form of Saved Messages. We have an article that went at length to demonstrate how to make notes using WhatsApp by creating a chat with yourself or a contact. On telegram, you don’t have to do all that. You can also forward pictures, images, videos, and documents to this chat to use later.
Saved Messages allows you to forward files from channels as well. Do you need to draft a message and edit it before sending it? You can use this chat for that. It is an incredibly important feature in hindsight and WhatsApp should implement it officially.
Picture-in-Picture Playback:
With this feature, you can continue to browse other chats even while watching videos. This feature will display a picture-in-picture of the video in a small window. You can adjust the size and move it around to suit you by dragging it. This is a great feature for users, especially when you’re going through group chats and don’t want to have to leave the chat screen. According to Telegram, you can even switch to other apps, which is great.
Telegram is ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile messaging but WhatsApp still dominates the market. Will they eventually catch up? Time will tell. Let us know what you think in the comments!
