WhatsApp is working on bringing ads to its iOS app - Sensationalist Headlines

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/whatsapp-working-bringing-ads-ios-070624116.html Fuck off facebook

well I guess it depends on how annoying they are but one of the nicest things about whatsapp was how minimal and barebones it was.

use telegram

How has WhatsApp made money without any ads, considering the app is free?

Nobody uses anything other than WhatsApp here so here's hoping that some people will switch to Telegram or just use the good old sms if they go ahead and bring adds.

the ads would have to be (really) annoying to force circles to switch. I literally can't budge from WhatsApp because every living being I know rely on it more than the call button.

how about a flashing red skull face that is full screen that screams for thirty seconds that costs a dollar to turn off?

Well, that's a good way to make people switch to Telegram. I've heard people talk about it, but most still stick to Whatsapp. Ads would make me switch over pretty much instantly and recommend it to my non-tech-savvy friends and relatives (so pretty much all of them) and they'd listen to me. And I assume I'm not the only one with a situation like that.

Simple, clean, no gimmicks beyond the bare essentials and uhhhh any other word that's synonymous with the aforementioned words Might also be a regional thing as pretty much everyone here in SEA uses it with Telegram being the fancy backup and everything being literal who apps

Data is cheaper that SMS/Calling nowadays and you can call anyone from anywhere for the same price. There are alternatives like telegram, viber and so on.

Whatsapp uses your phone number, aka sms but uses data, and you can sync contacts etc. Telegram is its own app, uses accounts instead.

Sort of. You still use your phone number to sign up and still can find your contacts via phone number, if I'm not mistaken. It does let you keep your phone number private and instead use an (optional) account handle when adding people.

Telegram also works by phone number, if you want it to.

RCS will probably be better in the long run for most people.

I like using Line. The interface is nice and the API is pretty fun to work with.

What's WhatsApp's monetisation model anyway (considering they have running costs)? Selling API access?

It's not in the States at all - but only because our country is moronic and treats Apple phones as a status symbol, despite the fact that most everyone buys them regardless of whether they can reasonably afford them or not.

It didn't have one originally. In 2013, WhatsApp reported only $10.2 million in revenue, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some users were charged $1 a year to use the app. It spent $149 million in 2013 to generate the $10 million in revenue, so its net loss was $138 million. The company started offering WhatsApp Business on Jan. 18, 2018, which is only available for Android users currently, but remains a free app. Small business can utilize it to interact with clients and the app gives them the ability to automate and sort the messages. While WhatsApp is not generating revenue for Facebook currently, since it lacks a subscription model, Matt Idema, WhatsApp's chief operating officer, told the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 5, 2017, "we do intend on charging businesses in the future."

Viber > whatsapp

regular old sms < all of those

regular sms is fucking garbage for anything but text

Android stay winning

hows that pension life going gramps