Telegram Adds Simple Tool to Bring In Your WhatsApp Data - Gizmodo

Illustration for article titled Telegram Adds Simple Tool to Bring In Your WhatsApp Data — Photo: Edward Smith (Getty Images)

Following the disastrous announcement of changes to its privacy policy, WhatsApp is losing the trust of millions of users who are now looking for a new encrypted messaging platform. Telegram claims it’s added 100 million new users this month alone, and it hopes its new ability to transfer WhatsApp chat histories will accelerate the transition.

On Thursday, Telegram launched a move-history tool that allows users to import their chats from WhatsApp, Line, and KakaoTalk. According to the company, videos and documents will also transfer into Telegram. Here’s how you do it on WhatsApp:

To move a chat from WhatsApp on iOS, open the Contact Info or Group Info page in WhatsApp, tap Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu.

On Android, open a WhatsApp chat, tap ⋮ > More > Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu

The company said that chats will be added to Telegram on the day that they’re imported but will still contain the original timestamps for reference. It’s also added a few feature tweaks to its audio player, some new greeting stickers, updated animations on Android, and an ability to report fake accounts.

When it comes to encrypted messaging, the important thing is trust and security. For quite some time, Signal has had the best reputation when it comes to those qualities, but some users are put off by its lack of features. But that’s changing fast. Signal started rolling out updates to its Android and iOS apps today, adding chat wallpapers, an “About” field for profiles, animated stickers, and more efficient data usage. The effort to make Signal more friendly for new users has caused some controversy at the small non-profit as some employees fear complicating the app could lead to the same moderation troubles plaguing social media networks. But there’s still every reason to believe that Signal is the best private messaging app out there.

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WhatsApp uses Signal’s encryption protocol, but it collects more metadata on users and, well, it’s owned by Facebook. After announcing some changes to its privacy policy that would only affect data-sharing as it applies to messaging a business, people freaked out. And the company has been whining ever since that it’s been a victim of misinformation and misunderstanding. One could argue that users are overreacting, but Facebook has lost the privilege of being given the benefit of the doubt. WhatsApp’s founders left the company warning that Facebook was violating its mission to protect user privacy, and one of them, Brian Acton, went to Signal.

Despite all that, WhatsApp still felt comfortable enough to announce the addition of face-, thumbprint-, and eye-scanning on Thursday. It promised users that biometric data will be handled on the device and it cannot collect that information.

If you’re tired of trusting Facebook to make good on its promises, use Signal.

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