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Messages vs Viber

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Messages scores 65 and Viber 30, so Messages is 35 points ahead.

65of 100
Messagescom.google.android.apps.messaging

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic ahead by 35

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
Messages 70 1 security problem found.
Viber 100 No security problem found.
Tracking Messages +99
Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
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 Messages +9
Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Viber 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging Viber +1
Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.
Viber 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 207 MB; 598 KB of it is unused files.
Access level
Messages 1 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; no 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 Messages +20
Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
Viber 28 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessages 0 · 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 Messages
none
In both
none
Only in Viber
AdColonyAdd Apt TrAdjustAdmostAmazon AdvertisementAppLovin MAXAppodeal StackBidMachineChartboostFacebook AdsFirebase AnalyticsFyberGoogle AdMobHuawei AdsInMobiironSourceMintegralMixPanelmyTargetPanglePrebid MobilePubMaticUnity AdsVungle / LiftoffYandex Mobile Ads

Dangerous permissionsMessages 13 · 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 Messages
READ_SMSRECEIVE_SMS
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOSEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in Viber
READ_CALL_LOG

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: Messages, Viber.