Signal is a much better choice and its basically a whatsapp clone.

Huh? I was curious about this and looked up the wikis only. However, WhatsApp initial release was 16 years ago and Signal initial release was 10 years ago. It also appears in the history that WhatsApp had a version on iOS in 2009 while Signal didn’t have anything for Android until 2010 (under Whisper I believe).

I’m trying to figure out how either is a clone of the other when they were developed around the same times. It seems the idea was just a similar idea from two different entities.

The clone comment likely refers to the underlying architecture, as WhatsApp is using the signal protocol for its 'secured' messaging. Of the two, signal is the far superior choice for anyone not forced to live in Zucco's World. It's the more private option, and is secure by default unlike a lot of apps (namely, telegram).

WhatsApp (thankfully) is secure by default now according to Google, but it took them a hot minute to get to that point. That being said, you're still giving metadata to Zucc no matter what, which is still really bad to give the guy working on military AI...

For once I can see eye to eye with a murderous theocratic regime.

Wouldn't want those pesky citizens having the ability to communicate securely, would we !