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Screenshot  Screenshot depicting WhatsApp's home screen in 2024 | |||||||||
| Original author(s) | Brian Acton, Jan Koum | ||||||||
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| Developer(s) | Meta Platforms, Will Cathcart (Head of WhatsApp)[1][2] | ||||||||
| Initial release | February 2009 | ||||||||
| Stable release(s) [±] | |||||||||
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| Preview release(s) [±] | |||||||||
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| Written in | Erlang[8] | ||||||||
| Operating system | Android, iOS, iPadOS, KaiOS, macOS, Windows, Windows Phone, Wear OS, Web, Meta Quest (The latter two require one-time verification from the mobile app client.) | ||||||||
| Size | 183.7 MB (iOS)[9] 48.02 MB (Android)[10] | ||||||||
| Available in | 40 (iOS) and 60 (Android)[11] languages | ||||||||
| Type | Instant messaging, VoIP | ||||||||
| License | Proprietary software with EULA "European Region"[12] "others"[13] | ||||||||
| Website | whatsapp | ||||||||
| This article is part of a series about |
| Meta Platforms |
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| Products and services |
| People |
| Business |
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta.[14] It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages,[15] make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content.[16][17] WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers.[18] The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up.[19] In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.[20][21]
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.[22][23] It became the world's most popular messaging application by 2015,[14][24] and had more than 2 billion users worldwide by February 2020,[25] confirmed four years later by new 200M registrations per month.[26] By 2016, it had become the primary means of Internet communication in regions including the Americas, the Indian subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.[14]
- ^ Horwitz, Jeff (February 12, 2020). "As WhatsApp Tops 2 Billion Users, Its Boss Vows to Defend Encryption". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ^ Cathcart, Will. "Why WhatsApp is pushing back on NSO Group hacking". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
- ^ "WhatsApp Messenger on the App Store". Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ "WhatsApp apk mirror repo". November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "WhatsApp Win Uptodown Repo". August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- ^ "WhatsApp Messenger on the App Store". August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- ^ "WhatsApp apk". November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ O'Connell, Ainsley (February 21, 2014). "Inside Erlang, The Rare Programming Language Behind WhatsApp's Success". Fast Company. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ "WhatsApp Messenger". App Store. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "WhatsApp Messenger APKs". APKMirror. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ "WhatsApp Help Center - How to change WhatsApp's language". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ "WhatsApp". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
- ^ "WhatsApp Business Terms of Service". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c Metz, Cade (April 5, 2016). "Forget Apple vs. the FBI: WhatsApp Just Switched on Encryption for a Billion People". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on April 9, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
- ^ "Features". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ Voice calling, March 12, 2015, archived from the original on March 17, 2015, retrieved March 16, 2015
- ^ "WhatsApp Voice Calling". Forbes. April 4, 2015. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "WhatsApp Desktop Client for Windows & Mac Is Only Second Best". MakeUseOf. February 20, 2018. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ "WhatsApp FAQ – Using one WhatsApp account on multiple phones, or with multiple phone numbers". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ "There's a new version of WhatsApp". The Independent. January 19, 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Armstrong, Paul. "How To Know If Your Business Should Use The New WhatsApp Business App". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Albergotti, Reed; MacMillan, Douglas; Rusli, Evelyn M. (February 20, 2014). "Facebook to Pay $19 Billion for WhatsApp". The Wall Street Journal. pp. A1, A6. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ "Facebook to Acquire WhatsApp" (Press release). February 19, 2014. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
- ^ Sun, Leo (September 11, 2015). "Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp Hits 900 Million Users: What Now?". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ "WhatsApp Blog". whatsapp.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ^ "reuters". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2024.