But WhatsApp now uses RAM as if it’s a professional grade application, starting off with a minimum of 300 to 600MB. No matter how hard I drag on the edges, it doesn’t shrink to a point where I can view only the current chat. What’s even more annoying is that I can’t resize WhatsApp just enough for only the current chat to be visible. Of course, this might be because I have already maxed out my RAM, but I never had this problem with the UWP version, so there is no reason for me to settle. While switching between chats, the animation starts a fraction of a second after I click. I thought it was because the chats were loading in the background.
imo-International Calls & Chat
In November 2024, the ability to transcribe voice messages was added, allowing users to read out what was said in a voice message, rather than listening to the audio. In October 2024, WhatsApp expanded their chat filter feature, adding the ability for users to create custom lists that contain specific chats of their choice. In October 2020, WhatsApp rolled out a feature allowing users to mute both individuals and group chats forever. In December 2019, WhatsApp announced that a new update would lock out any Apple users who had not updated to iOS 9 or higher and Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Google users who had not updated to version 4.0 by February 1, 2020.
- These could be a social networking service like Facebook, a messaging service, maybe search and other things like weather.
- Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age.
- On May 18, 2017, the European Commission announced that it was fining Facebook €110 million for “providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover” in 2014.
- 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.
- The app collected data on who the users contacted and how often, and when and how they were using the app.
Microsoft says Copilot codes faster than you drink coffee, devs say fix Windows 11 first, like slow File Explorer
Back then, the WhatsApp Beta version alone had moved to web.whatsapp.com. WhatsApp has increasingly drawn its innovation from competing services, such as a Telegram-inspired web version and features for groups. In May 2025, Meta reported WhatsApp had over 3 billion monthly active users globally.
In May 2022, WhatsApp launched its Cloud API services (now known as WhatsApp Business Platform) for larger businesses requiring features beyond the WhatsApp Business App. The 2021 Facebook outage affected other platforms owned by Facebook, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. However, the WhatsApp privacy policy does not apply in the EU, since it violates the principles of GDPR. In March 2020, WhatsApp partnered with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people to get information on the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 25, 2019, WhatsApp announced an investment of $250,000 through a partnership with Startup India to provide 500 startups with Facebook ad credits of $500 each. WhatsApp also announced a forthcoming business chicken road apk platform to enable companies to provide customer service at scale, and airlines KLM and Aeroméxico announced their participation in the testing.
In August 2022, WhatsApp launched an integration with JioMart, available only to users in India. The Cloud API enables businesses to integrate WhatsApp with other software, have a central WhatsApp account for multiple users and implement advanced automation. In January 2021, WhatsApp announced a controversial new privacy policy allowing WhatsApp to share data with its parent company, Facebook. In April 2018, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum announced he would be leaving the company.
India
Visual effects also became available, adding visual filters to a user’s video feed. In December 2024, WhatsApp introduced several new video calling features, including the ability to select specific participants from a group to make a call, rather than calling all group members. In June 2024, improvements were made to voice and video calls, allowing up to 32 participants in video calls, adding audio to screen sharing, and introducing a new codec to increase call reliability.
Previously, users could opt-out of such data sharing, but the new policy removed this option. 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. As the complaint was heavily redacted due to being an ongoing case, it did not disclose whether this was alleged tampering with the app’s end-to-end encryption, or Google accessing user backups.clarification needed 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 April 2017, the perpetrator of the Stockholm truck attack reportedly used WhatsApp to exchange messages with an ISIS supporter shortly before and after the incident.
- WhatsApp for Windows transitioned over to the Microsoft Edge WebView2 framework, marking a return to utilising a web-based framework (just like Electron previously) instead of a native framework.
- But if you do happen to Exit it, then if you receive a message in WhatsApp, you’ll still get a notification, but it just says “You may have new messages”.
- The desktop version was first only available to Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone users.
- When a user sends a message, it is stored on a WhatsApp server, which tries to forward it to the addressee, and repeatedly requests acknowledgement of receipt.
Windows 10 KB5071959 released to fix Microsoft’s bug that accidentally blocked ESU (Extended Security Updates)
Similar to voice messages, this feature allows users to record and send short videos directly in a chat. When this multi-device feature was first introduced to Android and iOS users, it could only show messages for the last three months on the Web version, because the Web version was syncing with the phone. In August 2013, WhatsApp added voice messages to their apps, giving users a way to send short audio recordings directly in their chats. In May 2017, it was reported that WhatsApp users spend over 340 million minutes on video calls each day on the app. By April 22, 2014, WhatsApp had over 500 million monthly active users, 700 million photos and 100 million videos were being shared daily, and the messaging system was handling more than 10 billion messages each day.
Whatsapps Channels.
WhatsApp Beta appears as the app shell, and Runtime Broker still manages permissions at the OS level. The main WebView2 Manager coordinates all child processes that such Chrome-based apps need to run. When you open the new Chromium-based WhatsApp on Windows, it doesn’t run as a single lightweight process like the old UWP version. A Status update, which I have already viewed on my phone, will show again as an update in WhatsApp UWP. The sad part is that the UWP app was super snappy, despite having a few minor issues.
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. Researchers and journalists called on WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook, to adopt measures similar to those adopted in India and restrict the spread of hoaxes and fake news. It was reported that US$3 million was spent in illegal concealed contributions related to this practice. After financial regulators in many regions raised concerns, Facebook stated that the currency, renamed Diem since December 2020, would require a government-issued ID for verification, and the wallet app would have fraud protection. This “Facebook coin” would reportedly be a stablecoin pegged to the value of a basket of different foreign currencies.
Linked devices allow the service to be used on multiple other platforms like desktop computers and smartwatches (e.g. WhatsApp Web, Facebook Portal), but also on other smartphones (called companions). Linked devices automatically log out after 14 days of inactivity on the primary phone. As of 2025, the software requires at least Android version 5.0 or iOS version 15.1 respectively. Currently, WhatsApp’s principal platforms, which are fully supported, are devices supporting mobile telephony running Android, and iPhones. By default, it is set to disappear in 24 hours, but it can be set for a longer amount of time and can be restricted for viewing by other contacts in the Settings menu. The assistant is based on the LLaMa 3 model, and is also available on other Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Voice calls between two accounts were added to the app in March and April 2015. Edited messages were tagged as “edited” to inform recipients that the content had been modified. In October 2018, the “Swipe to Reply” option was added to the Android beta version, 16 months after it was introduced for iOS. In December 2021, WhatsApp changed the default setting from “everyone” to only people in the user’s contacts or who have been conversed with (“nobody” is also an option).
However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job. Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like “what’s up” and it was published on the Apple App Store and BlackBerry App World in May and June 2009 respectively. A month earlier, after Koum purchased an iPhone, he and Acton decided to create an app for the App Store. The service was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.
WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard Extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP). In 2023, WhatsApp replaced the Electron-based apps with native versions for their respective platforms. Similar to the WhatsApp Web format, the app, which synchronises with a user’s mobile device, is available for download on the website. Previously the WhatsApp user’s handset had to be connected to the Internet for the browser application to function but as of an update in October 2021 (and integrated by default in WhatsApp as of April 2022) that is no longer the case. They link to and sync with WhatsApp actively running on a supported primary phone.
Scrolling messages and attempting to do video calls will more CPU and RAM. But if you do happen to Exit it, then if you receive a message in WhatsApp, you’ll still get a notification, but it just says “You may have new messages”. Except for the fact that this is a web wrapper, which theoretically means that Meta can fix it for web.whatsapp.com, and it would be fixed here as well. As for the part that says “We’Voe”, it’s honestly fine, since this is a beta version and things like this happen.
Testing the new WhatsApp for Windows
Prior to the update, the feature was “largely hidden within the apps menus” and difficult to find, with the reason for updating being that WhatsApp wanted the feature to be used more often. According to WhatsApp, this update was made for the incoming Christmas period for users to inform their contacts on their activities during the holidays. In April 2024, an AI-powered “Smart Assistant” became widely available in WhatsApp, allowing users to ask it questions or have it complete tasks such as generating images.
Meta Ray-Ban Display
Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media. By February 2013, WhatsApp had about 200 million active users and 50 staff members. To cover the cost of sending verification texts to users, WhatsApp was changed from a free service to a paid one. The idea started off as an app that would display statuses in a phone’s Contacts menu, showing if a person was at work or on a call. WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger), owned by Meta Platforms, is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and Voice over IP (VoIP) service accessible via desktop and mobile app. Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age.
The researchers notified, Meta (who updated the enumeration problem in October), and deleted their copy of the phone numbers. 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. The new privacy policy would not apply within the EU, as it is illegal under the GDPR.
As of May 2025, the service had 3 billion monthly active users, making it the most used messenger app. The developer indicated that this app supports the following accessibility features. Over the past few months, we’ve added new features to WhatsApp that make chatting and calling more convenient and fun. The Instagram and Threads apps are also web wrappers in case you are wondering. Instead, it behaves like a mini-browser running web.whatsapp.com inside your PC. Without doing anything else, like scrolling messages, video calls done through the latest Chromium-based WhatsApp uses almost 900MB of RAM and 25.8% CPU utilization.
