Line app vs WhatsApp evaluated for 2013 chat
There are some great social networking and communication apps available for smartphone and tablet users, and two that are of interest are LINE and WhatsApp. These are both extremely popular and are available for Android and iOS devices from Google Play or the App Store. We thought we’d take a look at the Line app vs. WhatsApp, giving an idea of what they each have to offer and evaluating them for 2013 chat. What we’d really like to know is what readers think of these apps?
We’ll begin with the LINE app, and this one is available for both Android and iOS devices. It offers a good experience for social networking with unlimited calling and messaging 24 hours a day, that’s free voice calls and free messages. LINE is now available in more than 230 countries around the world and has over 180 million users. Features include high quality voice calls, a message function with icons, photo sharing, location information, ways to express yourself with stickers and Emoji, and much more.
LINE also has a timeline feature and you can leave messages and comments, and there are now LINE official accounts for popular celebrities, and also money saving opportunities via coupons. Data transfer fees may be incurred though so if you have an unlimited mobile price plan that’s good news. LINE is a free app and for Android devices it’s available from Google Play here. This is compatible with devices running Android 2.1 or later. For iOS devices head to iTunes here. This one is compatible for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch running iOS 4.3 or later. Both the Android and iOS apps have recently been updated with minor bug fixes.
Moving on to WhatsApp Messenger, and this is another app that is highly rated. As its title suggests this is a smartphone messaging app, and it uses 3G or WiFi where available, to enable you to easily communicate with family and friends. If you switch from SMS to WhatsApp you get the first year free and it’s then $0.99 yearly afterwards. Once you’ve downloaded the app, chat is unlimited and there are no hidden costs. You can send photos, videos and voice notes to your contacts and enjoy group chat, and there are also no international charges if your friends are also using the WhatsApp Messenger app.
WhatsApp integrates with your existing phone address book and there’s no need to log in and out as you are always connected. If you miss a push notification, messages can be saved offline for later retrieval, and other features include location sharing, contact exchange, custom wallpaper, custom notification sounds and much more. The Android WhatsApp Messenger app is available free from Google Play here and is compatible with devices running Android 2.1 or later. WhatsApp for iOS devices is available from iTunes here priced at $0.99. It’s compatible with iPhones running iOS 4.3 or later.
Taking a look through user reviews of these apps we can see that both apps have a lot of fans. LINE for Android manages a rating of 4.1 stars while WhatsApp attains an extremely high 4.6 star rating. Many of the comments about LINE have a lot of positive things to say about the stickers available. Looking at comments for WhatsApp reveals that many also people love this app. However, in reviewing comments from the last few days it seems that there are some complaints about the app crashing lately and some iOS users regret that the app cannot be used with the iPad or iPod touch.
We’d like to gauge opinion about LINE vs. WhatsApp by asking readers to get involved. If you use either of these apps, what do you think about it? Maybe you’ve used both apps but have settled on your favorite? If so, which do you prefer? Let us know with your comments.
Comments
19 thoughts on “Line app vs WhatsApp evaluated for 2013 chat”
whatsapp! simple sweet
LINE!!!!!!
fun and enjoyable
Line line line!
People under 20 may use Line, for me there is nothing i’d want in an messaging app but free messages, whatsapp is all I need. Widely used among all my friends, only a few of them (the ones that love anime and Japanese culture, any ideas why?) use line.
haha I’ve noticed that too. My “anime friends” wanna use line i get the impression…why, now why exactly is that ~?
I too usually just use the simple chat apps, iMessages would suit me if it were cross platform, failing that something that would pull all my chat accounts into one would also work for me, which is tricky as the newer apps fo away with ligin to accounts. Anyway, I digress, like many others I installed Whatsapp as some friends were asking me to. I installed Line as my Thai friends tend to use it. Both offer simple chat experience and I mainly ignore the social angle Line us aiming for with its time line. However an obvious difference is Line supports voice calls that makes it better for me. I wonder how Skype list so much ground to these new apps.
Download WhatsApp PLUS from xda-developers. No crashing, great dev and it’s free forever!
Whats APP!!!!!!!
Line. Great voice quality. Intuitive design. Fun emoji. And extremely reliable.
line is good whatsapp is ok
The only thing Whatsapp has over other app services is wider reach – most people have it.
I only use the messaging function andI find the LINE layout is much more intuitive and is great that you can install it on the ipad/pc.
LINE wins.
line is better in every single aspect except 1: Whatsapp has been there longer and more ppl use it. once ppl start using line more, whatsapp will have nothing unless they integrate video and voice calls, and make it multi-platform like line is (desktop, phone..)
and best of all… line doesn’t have last seen (just sending, sent, and read) !! stalkers gonna hate
I’m not a fan of Line’s anime stuff, but what it really has over WhatsApp is security! or so they claim at least. WhatsApp has a lot more users tho which is a pretty big deal.. for now 🙂
I thought whatsapp was alright, I might as well just use iMessage. I like line its creative.
Stay away from LINE if you enjoy Direct Dial on your android. They did the same thing as Skype now, if you try to Direct Dial they intercept it and open up LINE instead so you can use their paid service. No thank you.
I, personally, think that both of the apps are a joke. Maybe it’s just me but the last time I checked, when you advertise something as being FREE, there shouldn’t be “monthly” charges of any sort… Doesn’t matter if it’s $0.02 or not….lol. I think it’s wonderful how people are ok with being scammed left and right nowadays…..
Line Chat and whatsapp both are nice. I love both, although Whatsapp will be little ahead. Line is good but audio calling its difficult to connect someone. Now I use only Whatsapp, Photo4tune and Skype.
What’s App!!! If your phone is lost or stolen- even if you shut down your old phone and follow Line protocol for transferring to a new device – it still may not work. I lost all my “friends” except one when I tried to start a new device – Line is no good! Cute yes- reliable no!