Mark Zuckerberg takes shot on iMessage, says WhatsApp more ‘private and secure’

The Instagram post is accompanied by a Meta advertising billboard in New York City promoting WhatsApp over SMS or iMessage. It shows a direct comparison between iMessage’s Green and Blue bubble approach vs WhatsApp’s ‘Private’ bubble.

“WhatsApp is far more private and secure than iMessage, with end-to-end encryption that works across both iPhones and Android, including group chats. With WhatsApp you can also set all new chats to disappear with the tap of a button. And last year we introduced end-to-end encrypted backups too. All of which iMessage still doesn’t have,” reads the Instagram post shared by Zuckerberg.

As reported by The Verge, the privacy ad campaign is a big push for Meta. Spokesperson Vispi Bhopti told the publication that it “will appear on broadcast TV, digital video, outdoor, and social across the United States,” and billboards will be popping up in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

WhatsApp has over 2 billion users worldwide. It is not the de facto messaging app in the US. Meta wants to grow WhatsApp’s user base in the US. In recent years, Meta has marketed WhatsApp based on privacy and security.

Meta is not the only tech company criticizing Apple iMessage. Google has been pushing Apple to adopt RCS, a successor to SMS, in its Messages app. The fact that iMessage still depends on SMS and that it can’t be used to securely message people with Android phones is a fair critique of Apple’s privacy-centered advertising around the iPhone.

Another feature missing from Apple iMessages is the lack of disappearing messages. With iOS 16, Apple has introduced the ability to call back messages up to two minutes after you send them.