Facebook WhatsApp, There is no doubt that WhatsApp Messenger is the most popular and most used instant messaging app in the world today.
This is true for all major mobile operating systems, be it Android, Windows Phone or iOS.
In the Google Play Store alone, WhatsApp has over 1 billion downloads. Even though this is an enormous figure to achieve for this instant messaging app, it does not represent the actual number of users of the app. Better still, WhatsApp boasts a rich user base that consists of over 700 million people from all over the world, with India alone playing home to over 70 million of these users.
WhatsApp’s popularity has been on the rise in the recent past and this can be attributed to the acquisition of the app by Facebook in a deal worth around $22 billion. There are those who believe that this deal is set to revolutionize the world of communication and if you are a user of WhatsApp, you must already be experiencing some of the results of this deal.
WhatsApp voice calls now available on Android
If you are a user of any Android smartphone, you can now download and install the latest version of WhatsApp and use the app as not only an instant messenger, but also as a VoIP client. This is true because WhatsApp introduced the voice calling feature somewhere in February and as of now; it is only available for the Android users.
If you are using WhatsApp on an iPhone or on a Windows Phone smartphone, all you can do for the moment is wait. However, this wait won’t last long, especially for iOS users after it was reported that some users of this application on iPhones can make use of the voice calling feature, but on a jailbroken iPhone.
Users of Windows Phone devices can expect to get the application after the update reaches iPhone users. Better still; the two operating systems could see the voice calling feature of WhatsApp come at a similar time.
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger may combine in future
WhatsApp was bought by Facebook, who is the owner of Facebook Messenger, another instant messaging app that works on the Facebook platform. Rather than use phone numbers to connect users, Messenger uses Facebook friends. However, both apps offer instant messaging and VoIP services.
These are not the only common factors between these two instant messaging applications. You can also get similarities in the last seen status, the ‘seen’ reports and even the use of web clients for access on PCs. Even though Messenger may seem a little sophisticated with its UI, WhatsApp’s simple UI has the solution to that. There are even those WhatsApp users who are complaining that WhatsApp voice calls are not the best, however, Facebook Messenger has better call quality than WhatsApp at the moment.
While this merging might not come any time soon, it is still possible that the company is still looking at the most common things or services that these two apps offer. This will then result in the company determining which features will be retained in an app that we may end up seeing towards the end of 2016 or 2017.
Bottom line
WhatsApp has millions of people joining in on a daily basis. Whether Facebook will be ready to kill off this brand is something that remains to be very interesting. Furthermore, the Facebook brand itself has grown by leaps and bounds. If Facebook decides to do away with its own brand in favor of a combined WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, then the result must probably be something very exceptional.
Keep following The Visionary and you will get the latest news and updates regarding any of these developments.
In the Google Play Store alone, WhatsApp has over 1 billion downloads. Even though this is an enormous figure to achieve for this instant messaging app, it does not represent the actual number of users of the app. Better still, WhatsApp boasts a rich user base that consists of over 700 million people from all over the world, with India alone playing home to over 70 million of these users.
WhatsApp’s popularity has been on the rise in the recent past and this can be attributed to the acquisition of the app by Facebook in a deal worth around $22 billion. There are those who believe that this deal is set to revolutionize the world of communication and if you are a user of WhatsApp, you must already be experiencing some of the results of this deal.
WhatsApp voice calls now available on Android
If you are a user of any Android smartphone, you can now download and install the latest version of WhatsApp and use the app as not only an instant messenger, but also as a VoIP client. This is true because WhatsApp introduced the voice calling feature somewhere in February and as of now; it is only available for the Android users.
If you are using WhatsApp on an iPhone or on a Windows Phone smartphone, all you can do for the moment is wait. However, this wait won’t last long, especially for iOS users after it was reported that some users of this application on iPhones can make use of the voice calling feature, but on a jailbroken iPhone.
Users of Windows Phone devices can expect to get the application after the update reaches iPhone users. Better still; the two operating systems could see the voice calling feature of WhatsApp come at a similar time.
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger may combine in future
WhatsApp was bought by Facebook, who is the owner of Facebook Messenger, another instant messaging app that works on the Facebook platform. Rather than use phone numbers to connect users, Messenger uses Facebook friends. However, both apps offer instant messaging and VoIP services.
These are not the only common factors between these two instant messaging applications. You can also get similarities in the last seen status, the ‘seen’ reports and even the use of web clients for access on PCs. Even though Messenger may seem a little sophisticated with its UI, WhatsApp’s simple UI has the solution to that. There are even those WhatsApp users who are complaining that WhatsApp voice calls are not the best, however, Facebook Messenger has better call quality than WhatsApp at the moment.
While this merging might not come any time soon, it is still possible that the company is still looking at the most common things or services that these two apps offer. This will then result in the company determining which features will be retained in an app that we may end up seeing towards the end of 2016 or 2017.
Bottom line
WhatsApp has millions of people joining in on a daily basis. Whether Facebook will be ready to kill off this brand is something that remains to be very interesting. Furthermore, the Facebook brand itself has grown by leaps and bounds. If Facebook decides to do away with its own brand in favor of a combined WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, then the result must probably be something very exceptional.
Keep following The Visionary and you will get the latest news and updates regarding any of these developments.
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