Whatsapp Messenger

Hey, Whatsapp? Slowly but surely, Whatsapp messenger has taken over the mobile instant messaging industry. Founded back in 2009 by two former Yahoo! employees, Whatsapp was developed when Apple made a crucial modification that changed third-party development forever. Push notifications. This allowed third-party applications to alert users when they are not using their phones. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the developers of Whatsapp launched a multimedia messenger that was similar to PC applications such as Skype and MSN Messenger. At the time, instant messaging was at the pinnacle of their rise in popularity. It was an instant success as mobile users were looking for a messaging experience that was more advanced than simply “texting”. With Whatsapp, users are able to send voice messages, pictures and videos without the extra MMS charges that would be applied to normal text messaging. Ultimately, this gave users the PC-esque experience at the palm of their hands. As the seemingly small company of only 55 employees climbed its way and solidified its position as one of the top mobile apps of its time, Facebook Inc. purchased the company for $19 billion US dollars. What started as a small messaging application became what is now an eleven-figure money making machine. Starting out in the Apple App Store as a $0.99 application, Whatsapp expanded to practically every platform available. Since then, the company also made their messenger free, charging users a fee of $0.99 for every following year they use Whatsapp – and of course, everyone renews their subscription because an equally effective alternative simply doesn’t exist. In the present day, Whatsapp is home to 600 million registered users and is above and beyond any mobile competitors. Although Apple has made its Messages application to be almost identical to Whatsapp, it cannot compete simply due to Whatsapp’s multi-platform nature. With the success of Whatsapp, telecommunications companies are watching the “texting” phenomenon fade away into the past as the word on the street is now, “Hey, Whatsapp me.”