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Whatsapp

WhatsApp to end Legacy OS support

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After breaking the one-billion barrier last month, the recently turned seven-year-old WhatsApp announced that it will be pulling the plug on legacy development for outdated mobile operating systems by the end of 2016.

However, in the case of Blackberry it would cease development altogether on the platform, an announcement that led furious users to create a petition to force WhatsApp to reconsider the move.

The complete list includes the following:-
BlackBerry (including BlackBerry 10)
Nokia S40
Nokia Symbian S60
Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
Windows Phone 7.1

WhatsApp justified the move by stating how current trends have changed since 2009, when Blackberry and Nokia owned the lion’s share of the smartphone market. At the time Android had barely just taken off and the Apple store was only a few months old.

[Via WhatsApp Blog]

WhatsApp crosses the one billion user threshold

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The Facebook-owned popular mobile messaging app, WhatsApp finally hit the one billion user base on February 1,2016. The messenger is used for a wide variety of purposes ranging from personal to business.

Within a span of 6 years, WhatsApp has penetrated the international market with zero monetisation and more recently, dropped the annual fee of $1 with a further emphasis on keeping the app free of ads. Competitive apps still charge for optional items like stickers and emoticons.

Facebook acquired the app in 2014 for $19 billion with an aim to use the data to improve their own targeted advertising.

[Via Whatsapp Blog]

WhatsApp edges a step closer to 1 billion users

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The WhatsApp team certainly have reason to celebrate. The messaging app just hit 900 million monthly active users and, as always with these things, took to Facebook to announce the good news. The milestone was reached seven months after WhatsApp hit the 700 million mark.

WhatsApp has seen a massive surge of late. It’s reportedly racked up tens of millions of users in just a matter of weeks and now has its sights set on 1 billion. The way it’s going, that shouldn’t take long. In June, WhatsApp became only the second Android app to reach 1 billion downloads, and it looks like there’s still more to come.

It’s gone from strength to strength ever since it was acquired by Facebook for a steep $19bn in 2014. Mark Zuckerberg threw down big money, but it’s paying dividends. In comparison, Facebook's own Messenger app hit 700 million users in June following its separation from the core service.

The one to beat, though, is Facebook’s main mobile app which boasts a whopping 1.49 billion monthly active users. Whether or not WhatsApp can catch up with it remains to be seen, but we wouldn’t rule it out. One thing we do know is that a business model isn’t far away.

Zuckerberg previously said: “Once we get to being a service with 1 billion, there are many clear ways that we can monetise.” The question is, how? The Facebook founder has already ruled out ads, so it'll be interesting to see what it does.