Our 9 Favorite Mobile Messaging Apps of 2024

Leslie Walker covered social media, web publishing, and internet technologies for About.com (now known as Lifewire).

Christine Baker is a marketing consultant with experience working for a variety of clients. Her expertise includes social media, web development, and graphic design.

• The Ultimate Guide to Shopping Online
• The Ultimate Guide to Online Learning at Home
• Two-Factor Authentication
• The Ultimate Guide to Skype

Mobile messaging apps provide a great alternative to email and texting, thanks to social networking features, strong security, and free video calls. You might be familiar with popular ones like Facebook Messenger and FaceTime. But there are many more options out there, each with its own special features.

Most Popular Messaging App: WhatsApp

• Group messaging supports over 1,000 people.
• Supports end-to-end encryption.
• Send documents as large as 2 GB.
• No ads.

• Voice calls are not available in all countries.

WhatsApp is a mobile text messaging app designed for smartphones and tablets that lets you send text messages, make VoIP calls, and share files from your phone or computer.

It also lets you share your GPS location, and you can view the other person's location without leaving the app, thanks to a built-in map. Set a status message for all of your contacts to see without messaging everyone individually, and follow channels on the topics and people that interest you.

This app also includes access to Meta AI for image generation, topic-based communities, disappearing messages, and polls.

Best Cross-Platform Messager: Telegram

• Share files without limits.
  
• Customize the theme and loads of other settings.
  
• Includes lots of stickers with more as free downloads.

• Seems to attract lots of spam messages.

Telegram is a cloud-based messaging service accessible from all of your devices. Unlike most messaging apps, it allows you to edit and delete messages even after sending them. Additionally, you can mute notifications for specific durations, send files (any type and size), make audio calls, and share your location. It also lets you send messages that automatically delete after a designated time.

Send Self-Destructing Photos: Snapchat

• Easily send photos and short videos.
• Add filters, effects, and drawings to images.
• Massive user base.

• Overwhelming interface.
• No easy way to save incoming images.

Snapchat differs from most mobile communication apps in that it specializes in sending multimedia messages that self-destruct after a predetermined amount of time. You can also send messages without pictures, play with fun and interesting filters and lenses, view stories from friends, and make video and audio calls. Snapchat also supports highly customizable Bitmojis to personalize your digital avatar.

Unlimited Group Chats: Viber

• End-to-end encryption by default and disappearing messages.
• Up to 60 people in one call.
• Store personal notes.
• Access bots and channels for more features, such as AI-powered text generation.

• May have more features than you need.
• Includes ads.
• Less likely that your friends already have it.

Viber users can text and call each other for free. Group text chats can include up to 250 members, or join a Community to chat with an unlimited number of people (1 billion is the real limit!). It works a bit like a social media site since you can include polls and quizzes in your chats. Your favorite chats can be organized in folders, news stories are just a tab away, and a unified search box makes it easy to find contacts, groups, Channels, Communities, and bots.

Best Walkie Talkie App: Voxer

• Share files from Dropbox.
• Built-in GIFs available through GIPHY.
• Post status updates on your profile.
• Group chats support 500 people.

• Many features require a paid account.

Voxer is a walkie-talkie or push-to-talk app that delivers live voice messages. The message is instantly played through your friend's phone speakers if the phone is turned on and the app is running or stored as a recorded message like voicemail. Voxer also supports texting, photo messaging, and encryption.

You can also make notes to yourself and star and share messages. In the settings are lots of options to customize how the app works — for example, turn on a setting to record with your headphones' play/pause button, activate noise suppression, and opt to use the volume down button as a Push to Talk button.

Voxer Pro is the only way to get features like unlimited message storage, admin-controlled chats, message recall, Extreme notifications, hands-free walkie-talkie mode, and more.

Custom Phone Numbers: Talkatone

• Works like a normal phone number.
• Includes free calling, texting, and picture messaging.
• Has a GIF gallery built in.
• Your phone number can be changed at any time.

• Can only get numbers from Canada or the U.S.
• International calls are not free for non-users.
• Your number expires unless it's used once every 30 days.
• Includes ads.

Talkatone offers free voice calling and text messaging over Wi-Fi or data plans. It turns your tablet into a phone, even if it doesn't have a cellular plan. When you sign up, you get an actual phone number for free. You can call not just other Talkatone users but even regular landlines and cell phones.

This messaging app works like your phone's calling and texting features. You can change ringtones, hide texts from showing in notifications, change your voicemail greeting, block numbers, access your phone's contacts, and more.

Paying unlocks more features like call forwarding and voicemail transcriptions. You can also remove ads for a fee.

Best Paid Features: LINE

• Huge user base.
• Group messaging supports up to 500 people.
• Send and receive money.
• Lots of useful customization settings.
• Store content for yourself in your Keep Memo.

• It's a bit much if you just need a mobile messaging solution.

Use LINE for free one-on-one and group chats with your friends from anywhere. With free domestic and international voice and video calls, you can call your friends and family as often as you want.

Some unique features include photo albums, official accounts with publicly accessible feeds, two-factor authentication, a passcode lock, and a toggle to reject any messages from non-friends.

The core communication features are all free, but LINE offers premium stickers, themes, and games for a fee.

No User Account Required: HeyTell

• You don't need to create a user account.
• All the options and features are self-explanatory.
• Stores a history of past messages.
• Messages you've sent can be shared over other apps like email.

• No option to cancel a message while it's in progress.
• Must pay to unlock extra features.

HeyTell is another push-to-talk app that allows for instant voice messaging. A push notification tells the recipient when a voice message is received, and the message plays when they open the app. If the recipient has the app open at the time of the message, it plays for them automatically.

One thing that sets this messaging app apart is that you don't have to make a user account to get started. Enter your name and add contacts by their phone number or email address. HeyTell is free, but there are in-app premium options for advanced features like ringtones, a voice changer, message expiration, etc.

Most Secure Messaging App: Silent Phone

• Centered around encryption and privacy.
• Send documents, videos, and images up to 100 MB.
• A real phone number isn't required.
• Can pay to communicate with non-members.

• Quickly drains phone battery.
• Paid subscription required.
• Group chats and calls limited to six people.

Silent Phone supports one-on-one video chat, multi-party voice conferencing for up to six participants, and voice memos. Calls and texts between Silent Phone users are encrypted end-to-end on mobile devices and texts can be set to self-destruct after a set time, making the app ideal for businesses that handle sensitive data. A Silent World subscription lets you call users who don't have a Silent Phone account.

Why Use a Messaging App?

There are a few reasons you may want to use a messaging app instead of traditional text messaging. For example, you don't have to pay extra fees to chat with people in other countries, and you don't even have to give out your phone number in most cases. Messaging apps are beneficial for contacting co-workers outside of regular work hours since you can send documents and make video calls. For distributed workforces, messaging apps allow employees in different time zones to conduct meetings and keep in touch throughout the workday.