apkreport Sign in

Messages vs WhatsApp

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Messages scores 65 and WhatsApp 49, so Messages is 16 points ahead.

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

version messages.android_20261005_05_RC00.phone_dynamic ahead by 16

49of 100
WhatsAppcom.whatsapp

version 2.26.39.79

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 Messages +30
Messages 70 1 security problem found.
WhatsApp 40 2 security problems found.
Tracking Messages +10
Messages 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
WhatsApp 90 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene level
Messages 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
WhatsApp 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging WhatsApp +1
Messages 99 Unpacked, the base APK is 95 MB; 492 KB of it is unused files.
WhatsApp 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
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.
WhatsApp 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 +40
Messages 48 Runs 3 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
WhatsApp 8 Runs 7 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersMessages 0 · WhatsApp 0

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 WhatsApp
none

Dangerous permissionsMessages 13 · WhatsApp 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_SMS
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATERECEIVE_SMSRECORD_AUDIOSEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in WhatsApp
none

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, WhatsApp.