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Messenger vs Viber

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Messenger scores 42 and Viber 30, so Messenger is 12 points ahead.

42of 100
Messengercom.facebook.orca

version 579.0.0.61.91 ahead by 12

30of 100
Vibercom.viber.voip

version 29.1.1.0

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security Viber +30
Messenger 70 1 security problem found.
Viber 100 No security problem found.
Tracking Messenger +22
Messenger 23 6 tracking tools found.
Viber 1 25 tracking tools found. It is 99 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 16.5 more.
Build hygiene level
Messenger 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
Viber 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging level
Messenger 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Viber 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 207 MB; 598 KB of it is unused files.
Access level
Messenger 1 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; 2 kinds of special access. It is 1 point below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 0.2 more.
Viber 1 Asks for 9 of 11 kinds of permission; 2 kinds of special access. It is 15 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 2.5 more.
Background Viber +27
Messenger 1 Runs 7 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart. It is 3 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 0.5 more.
Viber 28 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessenger 6 · Viber 25

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Messenger
Facebook FlipperFacebook NotificationsFacebook ShareGoogle Analytics
In both
Facebook AdsGoogle AdMob
Only in Viber
AdColonyAdd Apt TrAdjustAdmostAmazon AdvertisementAppLovin MAXAppodeal StackBidMachineChartboostFirebase AnalyticsFyberHuawei AdsInMobiironSourceMintegralMixPanelmyTargetPanglePrebid MobilePubMaticUnity AdsVungle / LiftoffYandex Mobile Ads

Dangerous permissionsMessenger 10 · Viber 12

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Messenger
none
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in Viber
READ_CALL_LOGSEND_SMS

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Messenger, Viber.