Wednesday 4 January 2012

Kik vs WhatsApp

Ok, so I haven't got round to writing my review of 2011 and look forward to 2012, but I wanted to write about somethings that are quite current.

Firstly, the Kik vs WhatsApp question. Which is better, Kik or WhatsApp?

I've been using Whatsapp for a while now, mainly to send free photos, videos and voice messages to my friends and for group conversations when organising something. However, yesterday I saw 'Kik' trending on twitter so I decided to investigate. After discovering it was another messaging app for smartphones I thought I would download it so I could compare it to WhatsApp.

After having it for 1 day this is what I have found.

The benefits:
- Kik is free to download on all phones (WhatsApp costs a small amount to download on an iPhone). 
- Kik takes up a lot less space on my phone compared to WhatsApp, which is a big benefit for me as my Samsung Galaxy Ace doesn't have much internal memory.
- You need to register for Kik and get a username, which then allows other people to add you as a contact without them having your phone number.
- You choose what name and photo is displayed to people you chat to with Kik, not the other way round like in WhatsApp.
- Kik has a better Sent/Delivered/Read notification system for each sent message than WhatsApp's tick system.
- You can block people who manage to get your username/ phone number so they can't contact you.

The disadvantages:
- It seemed to be slow to send and deliver my messages at first. Not sure if this was due to my data connection or a lot of people downloading the app and trying it out for the first time.
- There are a lot less emoticons available in Kik than in WhatsApp.
- None of my existing WhatsApp contacts were using Kik until yesterday. Now 2 of them are.
But that's all I have found so far.

Conclusion:
I've decided that the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives though as one of my friends uses Kik but doesn't have WhatsApp. I can now send him photos or videos for free which I could not previously do.

So for now I will still be mainly using WhatsApp still and occasionally use Kik. That might change though if more and more of my friends download and start using Kik.

Let me know if you disagree with anything or if you have found out any other benefits or disadvantages.



5 comments:

  1. what I think is these apps are just waste of time. Get Skype, problem solved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have just downloaded the app and none of my friends have this messenger...
    could you tell me if kik has the function like whatsapp where you are notified of a message even when the app is closed... I've got RAM shortage and it's not practical to keep the app running... thanks in advance

    ReplyDelete
  3. The biggest problem with these 'hipster' competitors to established networking apps or sites is that none of your FRIENDS will be using them.

    I would have loved to use KIK, but all my friends are on Whatsapp. The same goes with Google+ and Facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very happy to discover a messenger that works by username and not by phone number. This is a massive advantage of KIK.
    I just upgraded Whatsapp and very disappointed to discover that it is now mandatory to access your contacts whereas previously I denied access.
    I really hate apps that demand access to private areas and facebook accounts etc. Some of us dont want our lives splashed all over the internet. I will favour KIK where possible and hope it overtakes whatsapp.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete