People who are upset with WhatsApp’s new privacy policy are now shifting to Signal Messenger. Signal is not only privacy-focused but also has a couple of interesting features under its sleeves. However, it lacks a few key traits that are present on WhatsApp. Below are the top five WhatsApp features that are missing in Signal Messenger.
Related- How to Move Your WhatsApp Group Chats to Signal
5 WhatsApp Features Missing in Signal Messenger
1. Status or Stories
WhatsApp lets you upload text, images, and videos as status updates that automatically disappear after 24 hours. You can post your updates and see what others are up to, similar to Instagram stories. However, there’s no such feature in Signal Messenger.
2. Web Version
WhatsApp can be directly accessed on any web browser through web.whatsapp.com. This makes it very handy to be used on any computer whenever you want to. However, Signal does not have a web version. Instead, you’ll have to download the separate app for the desktop.
It could be a deal-breaker for people who want to access WhatsApp instantly on any computer they want.
3. Cloud Backup
Another important WhatsApp feature missing in Signal is cloud backup. While Signal lets you backup your chats on your phone’s storage, it does not offer cloud backups- you lose your phone, you lose all the chats.
On the other hand, WhatsApp offers both online and offline backup options. However, the good thing is that Signal encrypts local backups with a 30-digit passphrase. You can manually upload the backup file to your Google Drive if you can deal with the hassle.
4. Payments
Using WhatsApp Pay, you can send and receive money from your contacts through UPI. However, Signal does not offer any payments feature yet, like most other messaging apps. While I personally don’t use WhatsApp Pay, it could be important for some.
5. Online Status
WhatsApp shows you the other contact’s online status to know that they are online and vice versa. There’s no option to turn it off. On the contrary, Signal does not show the online status for any contact.
Now, there can be two things- you’ll either love that Signal won’t show others when you are active, or you’ll hate that the fact that you can’t see when others are active on the platform.
Other WhatsApp Features Missing in Signal App
Apart from the ones mentioned above, Signal also lacks the following minor features from WhatsApp:
- No Live Location Sharing– You can share your momentary location, but there’s no option to share your live location with others.
- No Custom Wallpapers- You cannot change the chat wallpapers.
- No QR Code Sharing- Unlike WhatsApp, you cannot add a contact by scanning his WhatsApp QR Code. These codes are given besides the user’s name in WhatsApp Settings.
- Star Messages- WhatsApp lets you star messages and access them later in the Starred Messages section. However, this feature is not present in the Signal app.
Wrapping Up
So these were some of WhatsApp features that are missing in Signal Messenger. Anyway, this doesn’t make Signal bad by any means. The developers have lately added the group calling feature, and we hope that they will keep adding new features in the coming time. How has been your experience with Signal so far? Do let me know in the comments below.
Also, read- WhatsApp vs. Telegram vs. Signal: Detailed Comparison
