WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT EMAIL CAN BE USED LIKE A REGULAR MESSENGER?

Email is the standard for business communication. It is used for support and other formal purposes, but generally it's not being used as a main service for messaging. Email is insecure as well because (if not self-hosted), the email provider can read the information that you send and receive. WhatsApp is now being used for frequent conversations and it's very popular. Whether you care or not about your privacy and security online, why do you use WhatsApp for online communication, why you don't use email? If your answer is because WhatsApp makes your communication experience easier and/or email is ancient, it's obsolete for online conversation and has clutter especially with so many replies under one message, I have some interesting thoughts to share with you shortly. If your answer is also because it's popular and it's the messenger that is being used primarily, well, switching to another messenger is not the same as switching a regular piece of software that you use. If you don't have anybody to contact, the messenger is basically useless.

This platform that I'm about to share with you really modernizes email communication. The application is called Delta Chat. What is that, you may ask? Delta Chat is an email client, similar to the Gmail app on your mobile phone. The only major difference is that it's in the form of a chat messenger. It operates similarly to WhatsApp, however, all that you would do, since you already have an email account is that you would log in to Delta Chat just like how you would in Gmail, then you just communicate. The way how you would communicate via WhatsApp is similar to the way how modern and easy the messaging experience Delta Chat has to offer. I'm going to state four (4) reasons why Delta Chat is the best platform for personal and business online communication.

1. You have the option to communicate in a private and secure fashion.

Privacy and security online is now debatable. Some people believe that nothing online is private and secure while others believe that there are private and secure platforms out there. Here, I'm going to explain why Delta Chat is private and secure. Delta Chat has a type of encryption called 'Autocrypt' which makes your messages end-to-end encrypted. This prevents an intruder(s) from reading your information. You may ask, can the people behind Delta Chat read the messages? The messages are passed through and stored on the email server and on your device only. How can the folks behind Delta Chat read your messages if there's nothing on Delta Chat storing anything? As I mentioned earlier, that the email provider has access to the information you send and receive, on Delta Chat, your email provider won't be able to read your messages that you send and receive because they are encrypted on the email server as well. In order for you to gain this level of protection though, you and the recipient(s) would have to use Delta Chat. If your recipient(s) doesn't care about their privacy and security online, then they don't need to use the application. Speaking of that, let's go to the next benefit of Delta Chat.

2. You don't need to use the app to communicate via email.

Delta Chat doesn't have any server. Instead, Delta Chat is a tool used to pass messages through existing email servers for communication. There's no such thing as a Delta Chat account. Unlike the other messengers that are out there, it's mandatory to have the app installed to communicate and you have to register for an account on those platforms such as WhatsApp. Some people would say that there are other platforms out there that only require an email address for registration. While this is true, the difference here is that you create an account on those services. With Delta Chat, you just log in with an existing email address. If you choose not to use Delta Chat, your messages are not going to be private and secure though and all of your information can be read by the email provider. However, the option is there. Whether you want to use Delta Chat or not, you still can communicate. Delta Chat to Delta Chat makes communication easier, private and secure while non-Delta Chat to non-Delta Chat/Delta Chat to non-Delta Chat is the regular way of sending and receiving messages and the information is insecure and not private.

3. You don't need a phone number.

Just use your existing email address to log in and you are good to go. Another thing is that, it is costly when you use other messengers that require a phone number prior to registration, you have to pay for a number. Getting an email address is generally free of cost and you don't need to pay to maintain it. I know that if your phone number is deactivated, you still can use certain messengers, but, the emphasis is on the fact that you don't need to pay to even use Delta Chat.

4. Multiple emails are supported.

If you have more than one email address for different purposes, you can add them to Delta Chat. your business messages can be separate from your personal messages for example, within the same app. With one phone number, you can have only one WhatsApp account and even if you install WhatsApp for Business, you would be using two separate applications.

If you want to backup your message history, you have to export it to a file. This is a good thing because the file is given to you and not stored for you somewhere else like what WhatsApp does. If you want the 'Status' feature, sorry, that doesn't exist on Delta Chat. When a platform is privacy and security conscious, fancy features will not be supported.

Now, what about audio/video calls? I know that WhatsApp has this functionality while email doesn't. Delta Chat doesn't change the nature of email communication. So what it does is that, it supports an audio/video conferencing platform called Jitsi. It's considered an alternative to Zoom as well. This platform can also be used without the need of installing an application, but it's optional. When you use Delta Chat to initiate an audio/video call on mobile phones, you will be redirected to a web browser and you will be given the option to use the app. The audio/video communication experience might be sluggish in the web browser. Delta Chat doesn't have a built in functionality for audio/video calls and this makes sense because emails don't have that capability anyway. However, if you don't mind how Delta Chat is using another platform for this function then you will have a pleasant experience on a laptop/desktop. For mobile phone users, installing the Jitsi Meet app will give you a pleasant audio/video communication experience. If an email service is not working for you, you can register for a different one. In a similar way, if a server of Jitsi Meet is sluggish, lagging or generally not working properly, you can choose another server that works better for you. Delta Chat supports all of that choice. If you don't know which one of the servers would work better for you, do a speed test and go for the first option. Do this when you're not downloading anything or streaming a video. If you care about your privacy and security via audio/video calls, ensure that the server has STUN Privacy, Host Privacy and No Tracking ticked before using it.

The download information is provided on the Delta Chat website as well as other useful information such as the FAQ.