If you value your privacy though, you can sign up with an email address without revealing your phone number. It's free for iPhone and Android, though there are a fair number of ads to contend with. And when it comes to getting friends and family online, you can let people scan a QR code found in your profile to get them into a chat instantly. Sort of like TikTok, you can join live broadcasts and watch and chat with a large number of other users.

Kik is a little more than just a messaging app it has a social component that makes it easy to meet new people to chat with, if you're looking for more than just a way to stay in touch with friends and family.

If you're concerned about privacy and security, though, it's worth noting that while Facebook is rolling out end-to-end encryption to Messenger, that feature is coming slowly and may not be fully available until 2023. It includes all the basics, such as voice, video, and text messaging, as well as stickers and GIFs, if you are interested in that sort of thing. Facebook Messengerįacebook Messenger is an incredibly popular messaging app thanks to its connection to Facebook, and it's available for free for both iPhone and Android (plus you can use it in a browser). You might also appreciate some of the extra features, like the ability to create polls and surveys, as well as search for images using natural language. It's also one of the very few apps which does not require you to sign up or confirm your account using your phone number, making it highly anonymous. In return, you get complete end-to-end encryption for voice, video, and text messages, as well as file exchanges. While most messaging apps are free, Threema is not - it costs $5 on both iPhone and Android (and you can use it in a web browser as well).

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