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If you want to leave WhatsApp behind: Independent messaging apps might be the alternative you are looking for. These apps offer the freedom to choose the app and the provider you like while still being able to stay in contact with your friends. Therefore, Independent messaging apps are using the well-establised and open IETF standard XMPP.

You are not just leaving questionable big-tech companies behind but you also give other people the freedom to decide which apps and providers they would like to trust.

And if you start to think: “I cannot leave Whatsapp because …” – don’t panic!

You can just follow the “+1"-strategy and additionally use an independent messenger to enable other people to use it. And … who knows … maybe someday it is not so hard anymore to delete other messaging apps.

IMDAY.de offers a personal recipe to start using independent messaging, inspired by the German Digital Independence Day. The idea of the German Digital Independence Day is to use the first sunday of each month to enhance your digital freedom by switching to more democracy-friendly alternative services. The initiative offers recipes-ideas for beginners.
But they currently (2026-01-17) do not offer a recipe for instant messaging using standards. The homepage mentions that the initiative Free (Libre) Messengers recommends messaging on the basis of XMPP, but it is considered as an option for specialists.
For this reason the recipe on this page exists. It shows that it’s no problem for beginners to start using independent messengers.
You can find additional information about the Digital Independence Day on DI.DAY (German).