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Viber vs WhatsApp

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. WhatsApp scores 49 and Viber 30, so WhatsApp is 19 points ahead.

30of 100
Vibercom.viber.voip

version 29.1.1.0

49of 100
WhatsAppcom.whatsapp

version 2.26.39.79 ahead by 19

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 +60
Viber 100 No security problem found.
WhatsApp 40 2 security problems found.
Tracking WhatsApp +89
Viber 1 25 tracking tools found. It is 99 points below the bottom of the scale, so the total loses 16.5 more.
WhatsApp 90 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene WhatsApp +9
Viber 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.
WhatsApp 71 The app passes 10 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging level
Viber 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 207 MB; 598 KB of it is unused files.
WhatsApp 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Access level
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.
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 Viber +20
Viber 28 Runs 5 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.

TrackersViber 25 · 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 Viber
AdColonyAdd Apt TrAdjustAdmostAmazon AdvertisementAppLovin MAXAppodeal StackBidMachineChartboostFacebook AdsFirebase AnalyticsFyberGoogle AdMobHuawei AdsInMobiironSourceMintegralMixPanelmyTargetPanglePrebid MobilePubMaticUnity AdsVungle / LiftoffYandex Mobile Ads
In both
none
Only in WhatsApp
none

Dangerous permissionsViber 12 · 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 Viber
READ_CALL_LOG
In both
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_CONTACTSREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATERECORD_AUDIOSEND_SMSWRITE_CONTACTSWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Only in WhatsApp
RECEIVE_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: Viber, WhatsApp.