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| Is the grass truly greener for WhatsApp? |
Undoubtedly, WhatsApp has undergone numerous UI changes since coming under Meta's ownership. It's uncertain how these changes will impact its 2 billion users. However, I am eager to observe the outcome. Let's take a look at WhatsApp's journey thus far...
Brief History of WhatsApp
Foundation (2009): WhatsApp was founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, former employees of Yahoo!. They launched WhatsApp in 2009 with the idea of providing a simple, reliable messaging platform.
Early Growth (2009-2014): Initially, WhatsApp gained popularity among iPhone users due to its simplicity and ad-free nature. It expanded to other platforms like Android, growing rapidly in emerging markets where SMS costs were high.
Acquisition by Facebook (2014): In February 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion, one of the largest tech acquisitions at that time. Despite concerns about privacy and changes to the app's business model, WhatsApp continued to grow.
Business Solutions (2018-Present): WhatsApp introduced WhatsApp Business in 2018, providing tools for small businesses to interact with customers. This included features like business profiles, automated messages, and the ability to create catalogues.
Features Expansion: Over the years, WhatsApp introduced several features beyond basic messaging, including voice calling, video calling, group chats, file sharing, end-to-end encryption for all messages, and WhatsApp Web, which allows users to access their messages via a web browser.
Personal Experience
I have been using WhatsApp for about 11 years, through a generation of smartphones that supported the messaging app to date. I remember owning the Nokia Asha 305, my first touchscreen smartphone that got WhatsApp in June 2013 via a Nokia Series 40 Full Touch OS OTA update.
As I approached my sixteenth birthday, my peers were all engrossed in Social Media apps and platforms like Facebook. WhatsApp, in those days, served primarily as a messaging app. I eagerly joined, registering with my trusty old phone number. Ah, the memories! Do you recall when WhatsApp was initially touted to be free “for a year”? (If my memory serves me right)😁
My first contact to chat with was my cousin Julie, she responded by asking, "How did you join this app?" as we went chatting and catching up with stories. The chat experience was lowkey cool since I got to experience the live typing indicators, and as months went by, my WhatsApp contact list grew and found the relevant ones to talk to, especially friends and family.
Then came the Nokia Asha 501 — a phone that felt like a prized possession. WhatsApp was no longer just an app; it was a phenomenon. Phone brands flaunted its availability, and the Asha 501 proudly sported it out of the box. I punched in my number, and voilà! My previous chats and contacts magically appeared(for the chats, I'm not sure if that was possible.)
But here’s the twist: WhatsApp wasn’t the same on every mobile OS. On iOS, Windows Phone, and Android, you could jazz up your chat wallpapers and sprinkle emojis in your contact status. It was like a mini canvas for self-expression. In the Asha Series 40 OS, Symbian OS and other OS versions, some features were limited.
It wasn't until I bought my first Android phone in 2015, a Tecno Y6, that I had to get the full WhatsApp experience: customization, voice and video calls, sending media attachments and more settings options. From that point of time, WhatsApp was gradually adding some features that were not considered relevant until today, like Status Updates. This feature was considered dumb but ended up being loved many months later. If you are a meme lord, you survive on this feature.
Fast forward to today, I use it as my daily app, I get updates on college notices via Class Groups and forums, and I have a chat group with church members, my fellow GizMunch writers, my family and friends. I have engaged with clients via WhatsApp Business using my primary phone number since 2019, tailored for business with business tools. Also, I enrolled in the WhatsApp Beta Program (both for PC and Mobile) to get experimental features and first-hand access to new features before its release to non-beta users.
How WhatsApp Changed Messaging
Imagine a world where texting via SMS to other regions got harder and more expensive due to limited rates for international regions. Jan Koum felt that hassle while trying to communicate with friends and family back in Ukraine until he and Brian Action created the messaging APP that would be an alternative to SMS.
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| Source: WABetaInfo |
The user interface and user experience have transformed over the years for various mobile platforms. Starting with the notable dark green signature colour to the 'tick' and 'hum' sound response in the chat, a user can quickly navigate through essential chat features making the conversation more personal and simple.
Years later, WhatsApp tuned to some similar Instagram-like features like Status reactions and some iMessage features like chat reactions, where one reacts to a message with a relatable emoji and pinning messages in a group chat, which has been previously available in Telegram.
This is a list of some of the added features that came before and after:
- View Once - WhatsApp expanded its "View Once" feature to include voice messages, which are deleted after the recipient listens to them. Users can also no longer take screenshots of messages marked as "View Once".
- Polls - Users can disable multiple answers when creating a poll, and search for polls in chat by selecting Search, then Polls on the Chats screen. WhatsApp will also notify users when someone responds to their polls.
- High-Definition Photos and Videos - WhatsApp adds the ability for users to share photos and videos in high-definition (HD).
- Group Voice and Video Calls - WhatsApp added group voice and video calls for up to four accounts. In April 2020, group calls were increased to up to eight accounts.
- Forwarding messages - WhatsApp added labelling for forwarded messages. The limit on forwarding a message was lowered to five times.
- Editing messages - WhatsApp announces users will be able to edit messages up to 15 minutes after being sent.
- Media captions - users can keep, delete, or rewrite original captions when forwarding media.
Since Group chats had a limited capacity for adding users, WhatsApp introduced Communities later in 2021 and has made message broadcasting and announcements for specific groups easier. Later then, we got WhatsApp channels, a new method of widespread communication and social media updates like Telegram.
And with more features coming later this year, it seems Meta is trying to incorporate AI in the messaging app with its own Meta AI language model.
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| Source: WhatsApp |
Notable WhatsApp changes
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| Source: WhatsApp |
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| Source: WhatsApp |
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| Source: WABetaInfo |
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| Source: WABetaInfo |
It may not be our place to speculate on why WhatsApp is adopting a greener look compared to other messaging apps like iMessage, which is known for its blue vs. green debate, and RCS, which is expected later this year in iPhone. However, it's worth noting that just as the grass becomes greener with time, WhatsApp has been a long-standing service, providing us with invaluable features for communication on both PC and mobile.