Just running a search for the term ‘chat apps’ or ‘video chat’ or ‘messenger apps’ inside the Play Store or the iTunes Store will serve you up hundreds of different options. We scoured the web, installed countless apps and compiled the best mobile messaging apps for your smartphone for both Android and iOS for 2020.

Aug 22, 2019. Jun 23, 2020.

In this blog article, we look at 16 of this year’s top chat apps and give our thoughts on each one.

#1. Yabb Messenger

Alright, we may be a little biased here but we think Yabb Instant Messenger is one of the best new all-in-one social networking chat apps on the market for Android and iOS. It’s loaded with features so you can communicate however you want, whether it be a voice call, video call, group chat, whatever.

Yabb’s Features

Cheap international calls to mobiles and landlines
Free VoIP calls (no phone number required)
Emoticons and animated stickers
Self-destructing text messages – set a timer for how long you’d like your message to “stay alive” once someone sees it before it is gone forever.
Group chat
Video chat
Real-time push messages
Location sharing
Meet new people nearby
Photo sharing
Social media wall where people can share and like
Share YouTube videos with your friends
Moderated content (if someone uploads inappropriate photos we remove them)
Real-time social updates

Yabb Instant Messenger is available on Android and iOS

#2. WhatsApp

At the time of this writing, WhatsApp is one of the most popular chat apps on Android and iOS connecting more than a billion humans. This is a staggering number of people all using one app not just to talk but to share multimedia media as well. The paper store application.

What we like

Unlimited calling
Free app to app messages
Group texting
Video calling

What we don’t like

Sep 02, 2020.

Future Security concerns: Mark Zuckerberg wants to make it possible for Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram to send messages to each other which raises real security concerns for those users.
Need fairly strong internet speeds to get a good clear video call.

Some of WhatsApp’s Features

Voice calls (only to other WhatsApp users)
Message pop-up boxes
End-to-end encryption into the latest versions of their app
Emoticons
Push notifications
Works with most smartphones
Send photos, documents and other multimedia to your connections

#3. Telegram

With millions of users on the Telegram platform it’s one of the more popular messaging apps but it’s mostly known for its solid end-to-end encryption which keeps your messages and calls private. There are others on this list that challenge Telegrams claims about its ability to keep users communication truly private.

What we like:

• Chat data is synchronized without any limitations across all devices and operating systems
• Good intuitive design and user interface
• Flexible security options
• Some good customizations
• No limit on file size sharing

What we don’t like:

• No video calling option
• The contact list is based on phone numbers and requires contact permissions on mobile devices.
• Voice calls weren’t as good as some other apps but that have been a connection issue?
• Search function needs improvement can be a little tedious to find what you want

Some of Telegram’s Features:

• Store chat history in the cloud
• 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie-Hellman secure key exchange
• Stickers and GIFs
• photo and video editing
• Group chat for up to 100,000 people

#4. GroupMe

GroupMe is a text messaging app that allows you to send group texts. How is this different from sending a group text on your mobile phone?

When you send a group text using your texting feature on your smartphone you’re really only sending a bunch of individual texts, there is no group conversation happening. With GroupMe, every message you send out can be seen by everyone and everyone can join in the conversation even if they don’t have the GroupMe messenger app installed on their phone.

What we like

It’s a social texting app that gets everyone involved
You can still send direct one-to-one messages
Photo and video sharing that allows participants to ‘like’

What we don’t like

If you’re only interested in group messaging then this should be one of your go-to chat apps, however, most people are after a few more features, in this case, it may not be the best option.

Some of GroupMe’s Features

Conference calling
Mapping feature which tells you the location of everyone involved in the discussion.
Split bills feature that will divide up the bill for each participant and notify each person (not available in all countries)
Create events where participants can RSVP
You can also make group poll’s to get feedback

#5. Line

Line is battling for ultimate supremacy in the VoIP space against big names like WhatsApp and Viber. This messenger app offers good voice and video capabilities and has a solid following in Asia.

Line also steps outside of just calling by offering emoticons, stickers, group messaging and the ability to share multiple media amongst other Line users, basically it’s a social media channel like Facebook and Twitter.

What we like

It’s not chained to your smartphone, you can use Line on your PC or Mac too.
Calls to landlines, it’s not free but they’re cheap.
Keeps all of your conversations in one place
Add-on apps to extend its capabilities
You can almost run your life from this single app. It covers your social media needs, you make purchases using Line Pay or if you’re in Japan use it to hail a cab!

What we don’t like

It’s not well-known outside of Asia, chances are your friends will already be fully invested in another chat app so it may take some convincing to get them to migrate all of their contacts over to a new service.
It’s kind of busy to look at and there are ads of course but what app doesn’t have them, the point is that it just adds more noise overall.
The interface isn’t as slick as Facebook or easy to use as other well-known social media apps like Twitter so it will take some time to adjust to the layout.

Some of Line’s Features

Voice calls app to app and to landlines (costs money)
Group video calls
Stickers
Disappearing messages
Calls to landlines
Plenty of add-on apps
Line Pay
Chat which allows you to speak with personal contacts as well as customers and inquiries

#6. WeChat

WeChat was developed in China back in 2011 and now is a global social media app. Since going viral has gone on to become a serious competitor to WhatsApp and Viber with 100’s of millions of users around the world.

Voice calls are interesting because they are in half-duplex which means that it works like a walkie-talkie, you start a voice message by pushing a button, WeChat records that message and then sends it over to the recipient.

Top Apps For Small Business

What we like

Registration is quick and easy since it uses your mobile phone number or log in with your Facebook details.
Free high-quality voice and video calling
Available for all common platforms
“Look around” feature which makes you visible to others meaning you can meet new friends.

What we don’t’ like

The interface isn’t as slick and intuitive as the other big messenger apps

Some of WeChat’s Features

Voice messaging
Video calls
Shake to add contacts
Selfie stickers
Look around allows you to meet people nearby
Share photos in real-time wherever you are to your contacts
Chat alerts let you know when a friend messages you something important
Quick pay
Private group chat

#7. Kakao Talk (KaTalk)

Kakao Talk is sometimes referred to as the Korean-WhatsApp.

What is it? It’s a social app that showcase