I thought it important to make a seperate thread that talks ONLY about ALL IN ONE messengers that can do everything that whatsapp can and more.
The Apps discussed here should have an All In One function to be able to place voice calls, place video calls, send text messages and attachment files. Personally i`m not too bother about video chat as i dont use it but some require it it. I think at bare minimum the app should be able to perform voice and text messaging all inclusive within the same App.
A number of times in other threads i got excited to download a talked about app rated as an “Alternative to Whatsapp” only to discover it is JUST a text only boring messenger that cannot even place a voice call.
I have a joke theory that there are whatsapp, employees operating on these forums steering folk to a “so called alternative” only to find out the alternative messenger can only do text, then the person whom wanted to try the new alternative gets fed up and goes back to using whatsapp to make his/her calls. LOL
My incomplete findings so far are:
Threema (interesting but not open source, It may be ok though requires a small one time fee and is not free, also no video chat)
Signal (requires a telephone number, which can reveal alot about whom you are. Somewhere in some datamining database your telephone number is linked to you location, address, personal info) Signal maybe ok in the future as there are talks about removing the need for phone number but currently it is still required)
Jami (has never properly fuctioned, ive tried it a few times in different platforms and fails alot, couldnt even send a 4mb file without getting stuck at 600kb)
Riot works well tho is a strange chat room type interface but can do it all, and also capable of self hosting. My first try of Riot was not good as the server was down and the app would not load, then next day it suddenly worked fine.
I am sure there are more All in One messenger Apps out there, feel free to share, i`m sure many people are interested in hearing about other messaging Apps that can do it all : All in One voice, text, video & ability to send file attachments as one inclusive App.