About
The desktop version was first only available to Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone users. Similar to voice messages, this feature allows users to record and send short videos directly in a chat. On May 18, 2017, the European Commission announced that it was fining Facebook €110 million for “providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover” in 2014. The idea, he said, is to develop a group of basic internet services that would be free of charge to use – “a 911 for the internet”.
Murders in India
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, whose main social media service Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009. In September 2017, security researchers reported to The New York Times that the WhatsApp service had been completely blocked in China. According to WhatsApp, the exploit “targeted at least 100 human-rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society” among a total of 1,400 users in 20 countries.
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- By February 2013, WhatsApp had about 200 million active users and 50 staff members.
- In July 2025, WhatsApp stopped developing the Windows UWP-based app due to poor support and deprecation of the UWP framework by Microsoft.
- The Cloud API enables businesses to integrate WhatsApp with other software, have a central WhatsApp account for multiple users and implement advanced automation.
- In January 2022, an unsealed surveillance application revealed that WhatsApp started tracking seven users from China and Macau in November 2021, based on a request from US DEA investigators.
- In February 2015, WhatsApp implemented voice calling, which helped WhatsApp to attract a different segment of the user population.
- As of 2025, the software requires at least Android version 5.0 or iOS version 15.1 respectively.
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WhatsApp Web
In January 2022, an unsealed surveillance application revealed that WhatsApp started tracking seven users from China and Macau in November 2021, based on a request from US DEA investigators. The app collected data on who the users contacted and how often, and when and how they were using the app. In January 2021, WhatsApp announced an updated privacy policy which stated that WhatsApp would share user data with Facebook and its “family of companies” beginning February 2021. Previously, users could opt-out of such data sharing, but the new policy removed this option.
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- Voice calls between two accounts were added to the app in March and April 2015.
- Linked devices automatically log out after 14 days of inactivity on the primary phone.
- On May 18, 2017, the European Commission announced that it was fining Facebook €110 million for “providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover” in 2014.
- He also said that the app would not display any third-party ads, and that it would have new features such as the ability to communicate with businesses.
- WhatsApp has been officially supported for iPads and its iPadOS since May 27, 2025.
- Sequoia Capital received an approximate 5,000% return on its initial investment.
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BiP – Messenger, Video Call
Koum updated WhatsApp so that everyone in the user’s network would be notified when a user’s status changed. On June 13, 2013, WhatsApp announced that they had reached their new daily record by processing 27 billion messages. According to the Financial Times, WhatsApp “has done to SMS on mobile phones what Skype did to international calling on landlines”.
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- It allows users to send text messages, voice messages, and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content.
- As of May 2025, the service had 3 billion monthly active users, making it the most used messenger app.
- Koum updated WhatsApp so that everyone in the user’s network would be notified when a user’s status changed.
- Higher usage was reported by frontline clinical staff to keep up with care needs, even though NHS trust policies do not permit their use.
- In November 2020, UPI payments via WhatsApp were initially restricted to 20 million users, and to 100 million users in April 2022, and became generally available to everyone in August 2022.
- Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media.
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See how people are using Google Maps to explore what’s around them, put their communities on the map, and help others
Linked devices automatically log out after 14 days of inactivity on the primary phone. In June 2023, Starzbet a feature called WhatsApp Channels was launched which allows content creators, public figures and organizations to send newsletter-like broadcasts to large numbers of users. Unlike messages in groups or private chats, channels are not end-to-end encrypted.
Linked and multi-device support
In September 2017, WhatsApp’s co-founder Brian Acton left the company to start a nonprofit group, later revealed as the Signal Foundation, which developed the WhatsApp competitor Signal. Both airlines had previously launched customer services on the Facebook Messenger platform. In June 2009, when the app had been downloaded by only a handful of Fishman’s Russian-speaking friends, Apple launched push technology, allowing users to be pinged even when not using the app.
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About this app
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Although Acton was working on another startup idea, he decided to join the company. Koum then hired a friend in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to develop a BlackBerry version, which arrived two months later. However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job.
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Version History
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Both Telegram and Signal in particular were reported to get registration spikes during WhatsApp outages and controversies. Since the complete roll out of this feature, users cannot check old messages before this period on the Web version anymore. In January 2021, WhatsApp announced a controversial new privacy policy allowing WhatsApp to share data with its parent company, Facebook.