Who remembers the early days of texting? Whether you had a Blackberry with a built-in keyboard or struggled through repeatedly tapping keys on your flip phone, texting has come a long way. Here's our roundup of the best iPhone messaging apps; check out these fun, easy, and safe ways to communicate today.
Best Messaging Apps
The best apps we found to communicate your way, whether your main focus is security or the ability to send fun stickers. For more iPhone tips, check out our Tip of the Day newsletter. Here's our list of the best messaging apps this year.
Voxer Walkie Talkie Messenger - (Free)
Sending voice messages is faster than typing. Voxer is an excellent voice messaging app that prioritizes push-to-talk messaging and is secure to boot. You can also text, share photos and videos, and share your location.
Telegram Messenger - (Free)
Delete all messages for both the sender and recipient at any time. It will leave no trace! Telegram is private, reliable, but still fun, with customizable themes and stickers.
WeChat - (Free)
Merge messaging with social media. Exchange money with any WeChat user, have fitness competitions with contacts, and so much more.
Google Chat - (Free)
One-on-one or group chats made easy! Use Google Workspace with friends and colleagues to securely chat, share links, work on documents, have meetings, delegate tasks, and plan events.
WhatsApp Messenger - (Free)
Communicate without restrictions like the green text bubble in Messages! Text, video call, and share media with others for free, no matter where the other person is or what phone they have.
Rakuten Viber Messenger - (Free)
Enjoy worry-free communication that is private and secure. Send sensitive messages that automatically disappear, chat in groups of up to 250 people, and call up to 60.
Discord - Talk, Play, Hang Out - (Free)
Chat with strangers with shared interests. Join groups to discuss collaborations, crowdsource information, and even organize virtual or in-person events.
Dust - a safer place to text - (Free)
Receive alerts if anyone screenshots your messages, delete messages from both ends, and enjoy automatic auto-deletion after 24 hours.
Slack - (Free)
Virtually meet with a team of colleagues or a group of friends to chat, share media, and make calls. Slack is reliable, works across Apple devices, and offers multiple workspaces.
Signal - Private Messenger - (Free)
Signal is one of the best private messaging apps available. It offers end-to-end message encryption and it's open source so users can spot weaknesses and request fixes.
Threema. The Secure Messenger - ($5.99)
Threema allows you to give absolutely no data to the app. It generates a random ID you can use to have friends connect with you, so you don't even have to enter your phone number.
KakaoTalk - (Free)
Enjoy brand-new levels of customization. Create a different profile for each contact you have and different channels to chat in, and even get digital coupons for using the app.
GroupMe - (Free)
GroupMe is one of the best group messaging apps. This chat app allows you to easily set up group chats for the mixed iPhone/Android groups. Join preset groups or create your own and customize to your heart's content!
Grammarly: AI Writing Keyboard - (Free)
Whether you do a lot of work on your phone or just like to edit your texts, the Grammarly app will polish all your written communication to a shine.
Animal Stickers - (Free)
There are sticker packets out there for pretty much anything you want, but this one is cute and comprehensive. Choose still or animated stickers of any animal and let your mood be known
GIPHY: The GIF Search Engine - (Free)
Welcome to GIF central! Whether you want to search a database of these short animations to spice up your texts or create your own, this app has you covered.
If you liked this message and chat app list, check out our full list of best iPhone apps in the categories of entertainment, finance, health and fitness, dining and cooking, design and photo, and staff and reader favorites.
