The messages involved discussing how to make an explosive device and a confession to the attack. In September 2019, WhatsApp was criticized for its implementation of a ‘delete for everyone’ feature. When a user deletes media for everyone, WhatsApp does not delete images saved in the iOS camera roll and so those users are able to keep the images. 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.

Third-party clients

Sequoia Capital received an approximate 5,000% return on its initial investment. Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media. In 2016, WhatsApp was accused of copying features from a then-unreleased version of iMessage.

Features

The web client was not standalone, and required the user’s phone to stay on and connected to the internet. Since then, linked devices support has expanded and more information is written in the Platform Support part of this article. In October 2020, WhatsApp rolled out a feature allowing users to mute both individuals and group chats forever. According to the company, messages could be edited within a 15-minute window after being sent.

MAJOR UPDATE

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. The new privacy policy would not apply within the EU, as it is illegal under the GDPR. There were a series of incidents between 2017 and 2020, after which WhatsApp announced changes for Indian users of the platform that labels forwarded messages as such. In February 2015, WhatsApp implemented voice calling, which helped WhatsApp to attract a different segment of the user population.

Mods and fake versions

Edited messages were tagged as «edited» to inform recipients that the content had been modified. On February 24, 2017, WhatsApp launched a new Status feature similar to Snapchat and Facebook stories. The Cloud API enables businesses to integrate WhatsApp with other software, have a central WhatsApp account for multiple users and implement advanced automation. 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. At the time, it was the largest acquisition of a venture-capital-backed company in history.

    {

  • In December 2023, WhatsApp’s «View Once» feature expanded to include voice messages.

    • |}

  • The new privacy policy would not apply within the EU, as it is illegal under the GDPR.

    • {

  • At that point WhatsApp was adding about 25 million new users every month, or 833,000 active users per day.

    • |}

  • 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».
  • In May 2019, WhatsApp was attacked by hackers who installed spyware on a number of victims’ smartphones.

    • {

  • 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.

    • |}

Version History

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. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client. As of May 2025, the service had 3 billion monthly active users, making it the most used messenger app.
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WhatsApp Web

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  • Both Telegram and Signal in particular were reported to get registration spikes during WhatsApp outages and controversies.

    • {

  • In February 2015, WhatsApp implemented voice calling, which helped WhatsApp to attract a different segment of the user population.

    • |}{

  • In October 2020, WhatsApp rolled out a feature allowing users to mute both individuals and group chats forever.

    • |}{

  • Visual effects also became available, adding visual filters to a user’s video feed.

    • |}

  • The messages involved discussing how to make an explosive device and a confession to the attack.
  • In November 2023, WhatsApp added a «voice chat» feature for groups with more than 32 members.

The company also announced plans to implement reactions, the ability for administrators to delete messages in groups and voice calls up to 32 participants. In April 2023, the app rolled out a feature that would allow account access across multiple phones, in a shift that would make it more like competitors. Now, the feature is also made available to iOS users, allowing them to link up Tuuri Kasino to four iPhones.
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imo-International Calls & Chat

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{

  • Koum then hired a friend in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to develop a BlackBerry version, which arrived two months later.
  • On February 24, 2017, WhatsApp launched a new Status feature similar to Snapchat and Facebook stories.
  • A month earlier, after Koum purchased an iPhone, he and Acton decided to create an app for the App Store.

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  • In July 2025, WhatsApp stopped developing the Windows UWP-based app due to poor support and deprecation of the UWP framework by Microsoft.

    • |}{

  • However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job.

    • |}{

  • WhatsApp also introduced chat filters, allowing users to sort their chats by All, Unread or Groups.

    • |}

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This allows users to send messages between other messaging apps and WhatsApp while maintaining end-to-end encryption. The company also reported that Windows Phone operating systems would no longer be supported after December 31, 2019. WhatsApp was announced to be the 3rd most downloaded mobile phone app of the decade 2010–2019. 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.