Beyond Snapchat: 5 popular free messaging app alternatives
There's no escaping Snapchat. Not only is it the dominant force among free photo-sharing apps at the moment, it's also increasingly become the app of choice for text messaging among teens and young adults. After all, why use a separate app for messaging when you can do it from the same one you use to share images and videos too?
That said, there is life beyond Snapchat. A number of free iPhone and iPad apps are out there that allow users to easily communicate with friends and loved ones without necessarily needing to download the current industry leader. Let's take a look at five of them that are currently popular on the App Store charts.
Messenger
by Facebook, Inc. - download free on iPhone or iPad
It's an accepted fact that Facebook has lost its luster among the younger crowd. It's also a fact that roughly a billion people have Facebook accounts, meaning that any given person is likely to have more contacts on its network than anywhere else.
Mark Zuckerberg's company made Messenger a standalone app in 2011 but disabled the ability to read Facebook messages through the main Facebook app in 2014. It's been dominant on the App Store charts since then. Coincidence? Probably not.
Kiwi - Q&A
by Chatous - download free on iPhone or iPad
Here's a chat and messaging app with a cool and unique niche. Kiwi allows users to ask their friends and contacts questions they'd like to have answered. Hence the 'Q&A' part of its name.
It has some features of a more general social media network like Twitter or Facebook as well, since profiles can be made public and other users followed to see their questions and answers. Still, the biggest use case seems to be asking one's friends questions and having fun with their replies.
WhatsApp Messenger
by WhatsApp Inc. - download free on iPhone or iPad
Much has been made of the idea that in certain portions of the world (India, for instance), WhatsApp is more popular than Facebook. It's not really an apples to apples comparison though, because while Facebook would certainly like its users to communicate via its network, WhatsApp Messenger's selling point is that it can be a text messaging or SMS replacement.
It also does a lot more than handle texts since it can be used "to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, and Voice Messages" wherever one has an internet or sufficient cellular connection. It's no wonder this app is such a player in the messaging space.
Kik
by Kik Interactive Inc. - download free on iPhone or iPad
Not only does Kik offer a robust platform for one-on-one and group messaging and chat, it also serves as a focal point for sharing video clips and GIFs. And it has the social networking aspects of some of its competitors, including the ability to make connections with people based on mutual interests.
Kik does have some issues that reviewers have griped about in terms of text limits and other constraints on ongoing conversations, but it's well-liked overall and has maintained a high standing in the App Store for quite some time.
imo free video calls and chat
by imo.im - download free on iPhone or iPad
Like WhatsApp, imo promotes itself as a do-it-all messaging app that can handle text, group chats, voice, and video calls -- with perhaps more of an emphasis on video than other similar apps.
The selling point here is to be able to do all of those things without any charges. Plus it has a bit more of a playful vibe, touting the use of stickers for self-expression. In the end, besides personal preference, the choice of a messaging app comes down to how many people you want to communicate with are also using it. For that reason, Snapchat is likely to remain king of the hill for some time to come, but there are plenty of choices out there if you're simply not down with the faceless ghost for some reason.