Sandes Application is a Government Instant Messaging System (GIMS) developed by the National Informatics Centre. It can be used for official or casual use by any Govt employee or public user having a valid Mobile No./Email ID. The government official chatting platform runs on both IOS and Android.
Sandes is now finally available for all smartphone users across India. It offers similar chatting functionality as WhatsApp with End-to-end encryption. Users can send documents, media files, audio files, and stickers.
Sandes Application feature:-
- Messages end to end encrypted
- It supports audio/video calls and multimedia and file sharing. contact sharing.
- Message styling
- Message tagging
- Back up and restore
- Phone book synchronisation
- Group chat
- Chatbots
- Broadcast messages
How to download Sandes Application?
For Android users
- Go to the https://www.gims.gov.in/dash/dlink.
- Click on Download button under the Android tab.
- Simply install the Application.
For IOS users
- Search GIMS Instant in App Store.
- Download and install from the link provided in the App Store.
How to use Sandes Web?
- Go to https://www.gims.gov.in/usr/llogin.
- Log in to your account by using mobile number or email ID.
Note:- As of now, only authorised government officials are allowed to sign in by using their email ID.
How to register on the Sandes Application?
- Download the Sandes Application from Play Store/Appstore and log in using any of the two modes – your mobile number or your Email Id.
- For registration by mobile: Select country code from the drop-down list and provide your valid mobile number.
- For registration by email: Provide your email id.
- Enter the received OTP on your mobile number/email id.
- Provide basic details such as Name and Gender.
- Provide the necessary permissions.
- Sync your contacts when prompted.
- Finally, You are now ready to use the GIMS App.
Sandes Application Limitation
- an official group can have a maximum of 200 members
- a non-official group can have a maximum of 50 members
- a Broadcast list can have a maximum of 10 contacts at a time.
- Only the following file types are supported: documents (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, pdf), images (jpeg, jpg, png), audio (mp3, m4a), video (mp4)
Sandes Vs Whatsapp, Which one is better?
Sandes and WhatsApp both the platform offer end to end encryption and having many similar features like video calling, creating group, multi-media sharing and more but still, there are some notable differences, too. The first main difference is that the user can sign up on the sandes app using their email ID or mobile number while users only get the option to sign up on WhatsApp using their mobile number. However, only government officials are allowed to use their @ gov.in email ID to sign-in to the Sands app.
The Sandes Application comes with the support of verified accounts for government employees. On the other hand, WhatsApp doesn’t have verified accounts for any individuals. The other noticeable change is that the Sandes has the option to send chat backups to user-preferred external storage, including email whereas in Whatsapp the users can only back up their chats to Google Drive.
Conclusion
For now, it is too early to say which platform is better because both the messaging app has its pros and cons. Whatsapp used by billions of people across the globe while Sandes is a new member of the messaging apps. If you don’t have any problem with recently updated WhatsApp policy then you don’t need to switch to the Sandes App but if you more concern about your chatting privacy then Sandes App could be the best option for you.