Introduction

Whatsapp is a clear global leader of instant messengers and is often used by billions of people around the world.It has also succeeded to conquer facebook in terms of daily active users and new signups.No doubt Whatsapp is the best IM app out there because all of our friends live in it, that's why we do not want to switch to some other platform. Today there are many alternatives of whatsapp but 'Hike messenger' is the only app which have enough guts to challenge whatsapp makers. However Telegram is also a good whatsapp alternative but it is only available for android and iphone users. So in this post, we will be considering hike which is struggling hard to steal the whatsapp users permanently. So lets figure out the 11 strong reasons which are in favour of hike messenger.

Allowable Media Size and Media Quality

Hike allows a maximum of 100MB of size per file against a mere 16MB on Whatsapp. However, it may be agreed that 16MB is more than enough for images and audio files, but the video files are easily greater than 16MB creating a problem for the users.

Also, Whatsapp has the option of trimming and compressing the videos which degrade the original quality. Also, quality of the transferred images is altered too.

Referral Rewards

Hike made its user base of 20 million by luring users into downloading the app and rewarding them with talktime recharges. Hike pays Rs. 20 for each successful referral and Rs. 15 to the new user who signs up. The user can redeem the money as a talktime for his phone after the minimum earning of Rs. 50. If you are on postpaid plan then after the hike reward redemption, your next bill amount will get reduced by the amount you redeemed.

Document Support

Whatsapp does not support document formats.

Hike supports document formats like .ppt, .docx, .pdf etc. One advantage that users have here is that they can transfer document files of upto 100MB while most email clients only provide with 25MB limit

Custom Chat Themes for Conversations

Whatsapp allows you to change the background wallpaper, but Hike offers even more. Hike lets you have customised themes for each conversation that is visible to both the end users.

Stickers and Emoticons

While Whatsapp started the emoticon revolution using the Emoji icons, it has remained the more or less the same for years now.

Though not an original idea, Hike supports many exciting stickers that just add the spice to the conversations :P These stickers are regularly updated every 2-3 months

Hike is more secure to Eavesdropping

Whatsapp messages are saved on the SD card of the device. These chat logs are encrypted, but extracting conversations from them is easy. In fact, the internet is loaded with tutorials for the same :P

Hike messenger has an option of 128 bit SSL encryption inside settings->privacy. This means chats are safe with Hike even on a public Wi-Fi. Encryption inside settings->privacy.

File Size

Recently,Hike has updated its system and now it allows its users to send files of upto 100 MB each,while the maximum file size of media supported by whatsapp is just 16 MB each. However if the file is larger than 16 MB, whatsapp provides the option of trimming the video to make it possible but it degrades the media quality.

Email Alternative

Hike supports media formats as well as documents including .ppt , .doc, docx and pdf file formats, therefore it is a good email alternative as email can tolerate an attachment which is a maximum of 25 MB of file size while hike can tolerate upto 100 MB of each attached file.

Money Making App

If you have ever used hike then you must be knowing about the hike rewards. Hike is the app which actually pays Rs. 20 for each successful referral and Rs. 15 to the new user who signs up. The user can redeem the money as a talktime for his phone after the minimum earning of Rs. 50. If you are on postpaid plan then after the hike reward redemption, your next bill amount will get reduced by the amount you redeemed. Now you must be thinking why they are paying ? They are doing it for their promotions, instead of paying millions for advertisements, they are benefitting their users. This is a good strategy used by them to get a huge coverage. You can invite your friends on hike by free hike sms and your friend has to download the hike app before 96 hours of your invitation otherwise you will not get the Hike referral reward. The only grey side is it is a limited time promotional offer and valid till 12/05/2014, so if you have not earned from Hike till yet then go for it and grab your first free talktime by just sending hike invitations to your friends who have never used hike. Last year I made more than Rs. 250 in one week from Hike by inviting friends.

2-Way Chat Themes

Hike supports creating chat environment according to your mood and emotion.Hike users can change the chat theme of a particular friend and the theme will be visible on both sides.

Free SMS

Unlike other instant messengers, Hike users are privileged to get 100 sms per month for free for their non-hike friends. No need to have sms packs on your mobile if you are already having a mobile data plan and Hike on your device. Hike users also get 50 sms as bonus for each successful invitataion along with Rs. 20. However, Hike-to-sms can only be sent within India.

Better Notifications

Whatsapp uses double check marks below each sent message to notify the sender about the message delivery. If the message got two checkmarks, it means the message is successfully delivered otherwise there might be some problem with the reciever's data connection or any thing like that. While in Hike, the sender can clearly see the 'R' , 'S' or 'D' below each sent message which means Read, Sent and Delivered and if your friend is currently offline then it will notify you that your friend is currently offline and at this instant you can use free hike-to-sms to reach your friend's inbox.Hike also notifies you whenever the profile picture or status of your friend gets updated.

Lifetime Free

Hike is an advertisement free and life time free app while subscription for whatsapp is free only for the first year and from the next year it costs about $0.99/year.

Better Privacy

Whatsapp fetches all contacts from the phonebook and matches them with the whatsapp users and then automatically add all the contacts to the whatsapp contact list. While hikers have to send and accept friend requests to ensure privacy. Each hiker can choose to show or hide his last seen to his friend.However, Whatsapp also lets you hide last seen at: but there are still many bugs in their time stamp system.

Movable to SD Card:

The latest version of hike can now be moved to SD card of the device after installation. This is a great feature for those who have a little phone memory or already loaded with other apps. While whatsapp does not officially supports move-to-sdcard feature.

128 Bit SSL Encryption:

This feature is added by hike buddies by keeping wifi users in their mind. If you are on public wifi then there is no need to worry about the passive attacks and 

eavesdropping. You have to just switch on the 128 bit SSL encryption inside settings->privacy. Chat logs are safe with hike. While whatsapp(android) chat logs gets saved inside whatsapp-> database folders in the SD card which are encrypted but can be converted to plain text with third party applications and python scripts. Also if you are on a open public wifi then the whatsapp chat logs are highly vulnerable to be sniffed by the other users who are also on the same wifi.

Hidden Mode

This is a new feature introduced by Hike team. This makes you to make any of your chat private and hidden from the whole world. Only you can access the hidden chat with a password created by you. Now this is something which seems to be impressive as whatsapp does not have this feature.

Verdict: It is not easy for any app developer to compete with the giants like whatsapp, but it seems like hike developers are struggling very hard and periodically updating their system, creating promotional offers to make the results more fruitful. However users will always remain the king  as it solely depends on them and their need  to decide the best apps for themselves. I have used almost all alternatives of whatsapp but in my opinion hike is much better than the other big players like Wechat and Line. But whatsapp can not be ignored as all of our friends live in it and they are the only reason why instant messengers came into existence.