You think WhatsApp of today is the exact same app or backend server logic from a year or two ago?
Any online service is constantly adding functionality on the server side even if the app code is constant ( given its a mobile app this is simply unlikely)
Unless you have an app that's not been upgraded and running in offline mode it's definitely not doing the same thing as a year ago.
thanks so much! keeping whatsapp simple and focused on replacing SMS/MMS seems like the key differentiator. was there ever internal conflict about making whatsapp more complex or "instagram-y"?
do you mind also sharing what the burn rate per MAU/DAU was around the acquisition?
Again I really appreciate the angle. Working in the technology sector I am wondering what is limiting Whatsapp to expand the features or if the are limiting the features on purpose. I would really like to understand the product design decision.
There is a reason why WhatsApp is still being used widely when there are better alternatives it's because people don't switch apps collectively at once.
The only thing whatsapp has going for it right now are network effects and the low friction of getting less-technically-inclined users to install a new app.
Something like that that has no benefit to users is an absolute death warrant for them. The other apps only need to reach a tipping point and they will be absolute dead in the water, they're already creeping up.
For the record, WhatsApp is in no way my recommended replacement. For obvious reasons it's completely inapplicable for intranet or institutional use. I mentioned it only because the original article made the comparison.
SMS is 25+ years old -- I only know I had it on my first phone -- and the absolute ubiquity of replacements (of which WhatsApp is just one) suggests those problems are real ones for a lot of people. If you're not "most people" in this conversation, that's a pretty big caveat when talking about how the problems are not actually so, really.
Every mobile messaging app has this now, but not in 2009 when WhatsApp started. I remember that mobile carriers were really pissed for a while that WhatsApp killed the SMS.
Or just the fact that is extremely much better in all ux departments:
- the app is now so much better that I was confused last time I used WhatsApp (I also think WhatsApp must have gone backwards, it was better before, wasn't it?)
- better admin tools for groups (mute, disallow stickers etc)
- disappearing chats. More convenience than security IMO but still something I use with my wife. I always lock my phone, but she lets our kids borrow it sometimes and I'd not to share everything we tell each with the kids :-)
- scheduled messages: remember lunch Lisa!
- and for your geek friends: actually open source, multiple client goodness. And APIs. And bots that you can create yourselves.
Oh hell no. I'm glad that Whatsapp is being mostly left alone, or at least that's what I see as a user. They ship some improvements and extraneous stuff (Whatsapp Status) from time to time, but the core of the app stays as it is.
Most people don't look forward to every time their app is redesigned starting from the icon up. It mostly doesn't get better, it gets worse to satisfy a Product Manager's CV checkbox.
OK - what change does Whatsapp represent over SMS?
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