WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook).
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WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook).
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However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job.
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Some time in 2013 WhatsApp acquired Santa Clara-based startup SkyMobius, the developers of Vtok, a video and voice calling app.
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Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media.
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WhatsApp said that new mobile phones would be sold in Germany with the WhatsApp brand, and that their ultimate goal was to be on all smartphones.
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On November 30, 2015, the Android WhatsApp client made links to messaging service Telegram unclickable and uncopyable.
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WhatsApp 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.
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On November 10, 2016, WhatsApp launched a beta version of two-factor authentication for Android users, which allowed them to use their email addresses for further protection.
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WhatsApp explained his reasons for leaving in an interview with Forbes a year later.
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WhatsApp announced a forthcoming business platform to enable companies to provide customer service at scale, and airlines KLM and Aeromexico announced their participation in the testing.
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WhatsApp reported that Windows Phone operating systems would no longer be supported after December 31, 2019.
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In early 2020, WhatsApp launched its "dark mode" for iPhone and Android devices – a new design consisting of a darker palette.
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In January 2021, WhatsApp announced a new Privacy Policy allowing WhatsApp to share data with its parent company, Facebook; users who did not accept by February 8, 2021 would lose access to the app.
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In July 2021, WhatsApp announced forthcoming support for sending uncompressed images and videos in 3 options: Auto, Best Quality and Data Saver, and end-to-end encryption for backups stored in Facebook's cloud.
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WhatsApp was testing multi-device support, allowing Computer users to run WhatsApp without an active phone session.
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In December 2021, WhatsApp changed the default setting from "everyone" to only people in the user's contacts or who have been conversed with.
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WhatsApp announced plans to implement reactions, the ability for administrators to delete messages in groups and voice calls up to 32 participants.
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The oldest device capable of running WhatsApp was the Symbian-based Nokia N95 released in March 2007.
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On January 21, 2015, WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Web, a browser-based web client that could be used by syncing with a mobile device's connection.
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In October 2019, WhatsApp officially launched a new fingerprint app-locking feature for Android users.
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WhatsApp was officially made available for PCs through a web client, under the name WhatsApp Web, in late January 2015 through an announcement made by Koum on his Facebook page: "Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device—this means all of your messages still live on your phone".
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Recently, WhatsApp added support for video calls and voice calls from their desktop clients.
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Per WhatsApp's policy, using third-party clients can result in the account getting permanently banned.
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WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol.
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In February 2015, WhatsApp introduced a voice calling feature; this helped WhatsApp to attract a completely different segment of the user population.
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On November 14, 2016, WhatsApp added a video calling feature for users across Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone devices.
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In November 2017, WhatsApp released a new feature that would let its users delete messages sent by mistake within a time frame of 7 minutes.
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WhatsApp follows a "store and forward" mechanism for exchanging messages between two users.
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The WhatsApp server keeps the message only for 30 days in its database when it is not delivered.
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On November 18, 2014, Open Whisper Systems announced a partnership with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption by incorporating the encryption protocol used in Signal into each WhatsApp client platform.
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WhatsApp confirmed the partnership to reporters, but there was no announcement or documentation about the encryption feature on the official website, and further requests for comment were declined.
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WhatsApp calls are encrypted with SRTP, and all client-server communications are "layered within a separate encrypted channel".
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The Signal Protocol library used by WhatsApp is open-source and published under the GPLv3 license.
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On October 14, 2021, WhatsApp rolled out end-to-end encryption for backups on Android and iOS.
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WhatsApp Payments is a peer-to-peer money transfer feature that is currently only available in India.
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WhatsApp has received permission from the National Payments Corporation of India to enter into partnership with multiple banks in July 2017 to allow users to make in-app payments and money transfers using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
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On November 6, 2020, WhatsApp announced that it had received approval for providing a payment service, although restricted to maximum of 20 million users initially.
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WhatsApp has stated the forwarding limits have helped to curb the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19.
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WhatsApp was initially criticized for its lack of encryption, sending information as plaintext.
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In 2016, WhatsApp was widely praised for the addition of end-to-end encryption and earned a 6 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Secure Messaging Scorecard".
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WhatsApp was criticized by security researchers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for using backups that are not covered by end-to-end encryption and allow messages to be accessed by third-parties.
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In May 2019, a security vulnerability in WhatsApp was found and fixed that allowed a remote person to install spyware by making a call which did not need to be answered.
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In September 2019, WhatsApp was criticized for its implementation of a 'delete for everyone' feature.
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WhatsApp released a statement saying that "the feature is working properly, " and that images stored in the camera roll cannot be deleted due to Apple's security layers.
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In November 2019, WhatsApp released a new privacy feature that let users decide who can add them to groups.
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In December 2019, WhatsApp confirmed a security flaw that would allow hackers to use a malicious GIF image file to gain access to the recipient's data.
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On December 17, 2019, WhatsApp fixed a security flaw that allowed cyber attackers to repeatedly crash the messaging application for all members of group chat, which could only be fixed by forcing the complete uninstall and reinstall of the app.
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Security purposes, since February 1, 2020, WhatsApp has been made unavailable on smartphones using legacy operating systems like Android 2.
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On December 16, 2020, a claim that WhatsApp gave Google access to private messages was included in the anti-trust case against the latter.
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The enforcement of the privacy policy was postponed from February 8 to May 15, 2021, but WhatsApp announced they have no plans to limit the functionality of the app for those who don't approve the new terms or to give them persistent reminders to do so.
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On October 15, 2021, WhatsApp announced that it would begin offering an end-to-end encryption service for chat backups, meaning no third party will have access to a user's information.
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On November 29, 2021, an FBI document was uncovered by Rolling Stone, revealing that WhatsApp responds to warrants and subpoenas from the law enforcement within minutes, providing user metadata to the authorities.
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At the beginning of 2022, it was revealed that San Diego-based startup Boldend had developed tools to hack WhatsApp's encryption, gaining access to user data, at some point since the startup's inception in 2017.
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In March 2019, WhatsApp released a guide for users who had installed unofficial modified versions of WhatsApp and warned that it may ban those using unofficial clients.
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In May 2019, WhatsApp was attacked by hackers who installed spyware on a number of victims' smartphones.
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In March 2017, British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said encryption capabilities of messaging tools like WhatsApp are unacceptable, as news reported that Khalid Masood used the application several minutes before perpetrating the 2017 Westminster attack.
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In May 2016, some WhatsApp users were reported to have been tricked into downloading a third-party application called WhatsApp Gold, which was part of a scam that infected the users' phones with malware.
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In mid-2013, WhatsApp Inc filed for the DMCA takedown of the discussion thread on the XDA Developers forums about the then popular third-party client "WhatsApp Plus".
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In September 2017, WhatsApp confirmed rumors that they were building and testing two new tools for businesses.
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WhatsApp handled ten billion messages per day in August 2012, growing from two billion in April 2012, and one billion the previous October.
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WhatsApp has increasingly drawn its innovation from competing services, such as a Telegram-inspired web version and features for groups.
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In 2016, WhatsApp was accused of copying features from a then-unreleased version of iMessage.
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