<!--
.. title: Phone messaging apps comparison
.. slug: im-services
.. date: 2016-07-06
.. tags: whatsapp,telegram,signal,instant messaging,messaging protocols,PesceWanda
.. category: PesceWanda
.. link: 
.. description: 
.. type: text
-->


I made this chart for a presentation at the [Berkman Klein Center](https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/)

|		| Whatsapp | Telegram | Signal |
|-------|:--------:|:--------:|-------:|
|Source code| closed source | open source | open source|
|Api | none | various | library |
|Encription protocol | state of the art | self made | state of the art |
|Contact list location | cloud | cloud | cloud, encrypted | 
|Forward Secrecy | yes | yes | yes |
|Database| phone storage| cloud | phone storage |
|Backup capability | Icloud or Gcloud| builtin| none|
|Revenue | ads (Facebook) | donation based | donation based |
|Federation | no | no | no|
|Alternative download location | website | F-Droid | none |
|Uses third party services | no | no |Google Cloud Messaging |
|Servers location | US | Russia | US |
|Tied to mobile number | yes | yes, but nickname available | yes |
|Desktop client | no | yes | no |