Entries in WhatsApp (95)

Wednesday
Mar212018

WhatsApp co-founder urges users to delete Facebook

Facebook might own WhatsApp now but it seems one of its co-founders isn’t happy with how the social network is doing business now. Brian Acton, one of the messaging service’s co-founders, took to Twitter with the words, “It is time. #deletefacebook.” And while we don’t know the motivations for his tweet. It seems to be a big concern as it is only one of five tweets Acton has posted in the last eight years. The tweet does come at a time when Facebook is under fire for alleged misuse of 50 million users’ private data by data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, which has reportedly mass harvested data from the social network. Reports suggest this might have influenced the 2016 US Presidential election and UK Brexit vote.

Acton has invested US$50 million last month to the Signal Foundation to help keep encrypted messaging service Signal running. And while this can be seen as a direct competitor to WhatsApp, Acton hasn’t said anything about dropping the messaging service. 

Source: Android Authority

Tuesday
Mar062018

BlackBerry accuses Facebook of infringement over its messaging patents

CNN

BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit in California against Facebook and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram for what it says is infringement of its messaging patents. The company says the social media company has “co-opted” its patented innovations related to security, user interface, and battery life. But Facebook brushes off the suit claiming it’s just a desperate move from the beleaguered company. "Blackberry's suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business," Paul Grewal, Facebook's deputy general counsel, said in a statement. "Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, BlackBerry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight."

The patents cited in the lawsuit describe the key elements of modern day messaging including those that deal with notifications for the total number of unread messages, photo tagging, and messaging time stamps. It hasn’t been cited how much BlackBerry is asking in terms of damages. But it seems seeking money from the patents isn’t the only motivation, the company seems to want to partner with Facebook. "As a cybersecurity and embedded software leader, BlackBerry's view is that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could make great partners in our drive toward a securely connected future," BlackBerry’s spokesperson said in the statement. "We continue to hold this door open to them."

Source: CNN

Monday
Jan292018

WhatsApp is now available on Apple CarPlay

Apple CarPlay users who are also WhatsApp users can now consider using the popular messagin app in hands free mode while in a car.  WhatsApp users who have updated the app to the latest version on iOS will see the app's icon appear on their CarPlay console.

You can’t browse a list of conversations, but you can tap on the icon to start sending a new message using dictation. Notifications from WhatsApp also appear in the CarPlay UI and users can tap to listen and respond. This makes it safer for passengers sitting in front, or parked drivers, to engage in WhatsApp conversations. Using any sort of messaging app is still a cause of distracted driving and should be avaoided.

Source: 9to5mac

Thursday
Dec282017

WhatsApp to end support for BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone by the end of the year

With 2017 ending in just a few days, WhatsApp just announced its ending support for two old operating systems on December 31: the BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone 8.0. For BlackBerry, that includes BlackBerry 10, while Windows Phone encompasses the older iterations. While the app will still function on those platforms, without support this means some features might stop functioning suddenly. You also won’t be able to create new accounts or re-verify existing ones. The Facebook-owned messaging service is encouraging users to upgrade to other support platforms to make sure they get the service they can expect from WhatsApp. But they also remind users that they can’t transfer chat histories from one platform to another, but you can export and send your chat history attached to an email.

Source: VentureBeat