WhatsApp for iPhone updated with Chat notification, Videos Backup, Lower Data Usage and more!

Not to be outdone by rival Viber which rolled out animated stickers, location sharing, a brand new keypad and other enhancements in yesterday’s refresh, Facebook-owned WhatsApp today pushed a substantial update to its App Store application.

WhatsApp for iPhone now features richer notifications settings with per-chat rules and mute options, a new swipe gesture to mark chats as read or unread, the ability to directly share contacts from the Contacts app and locations from Apple Maps, backups for your videos and much more.

Other new features in this update include an enhanced interface when cropping photos and videos before adding them to a chat, friendlier features for hearing-impaired users with improved VoiceOver support and infinite scrolling with earlier messages loading automatically as you scroll chats.

Message swiping and muting

WhatsApp now features the familiar swiping gesture on the chat screen that you can use to reveal hidden options, like in Apple’s Mail and a number of other third-party apps.

For example, swiping in the chat list from left to right lets you mark a message as read. If a message has already been read, you will see the option to mark it as unread.

Swiping in the chat list from right to left lets you archive a message.

If you tap More, a menu pops up offering options to mute the conversation, bring up contact information, share the contents of your chat in an email message, clear the chat without deleting it from your history or delete the chat forever.

For those wondering, you can mute a chat for 8 hours, 1 week or 1 year.

Location sharing from Apple Maps

WhatsApp is now listed as an option in the Share sheet within Apple Maps.

This lets you quickly send your current location, or any point of interest for that matter, directly to WhatsApp without leaving Apple Maps. Just fire up Apple Maps on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, find a location (or drop a pin on the map) and tap the share icon in the upper right corner.

Now choose WhatsApp in the top row of icons, choose one or more WhatsApp contacts to share the location with and tap Send, as shown above. Which brings me to another new feature in WhatsApp 2.12.5: a larger map thumbnail in the chat window.

Here’s what it looks like.

As you can see, the Fifth Avenue location I just sent to myself from Apple Maps appears in the chat window as a larger map thumbnail. If I tap the embedded thumbnail, WhatsApp takes me to a full-screen map view like before.

Location sharing from Contacts app

In addition to native sharing to WhatsApp from Apple Maps, the same feature is now available in Apple’s stock Contacts app. As you may have suspected, this lets you quickly share specific contact data with a friend on WhatsApp right within the context of the Contacts app.

First, open Contacts on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and tap on a contact. Scroll down in the contact view screen until you see the Share Contact option. Tap it, choose WhatsApp in the top row of icons, select your recipient and you’ll be taken to a new screen to cherry-pick which contact information you’d like to share.

In the example above, I’m sharing Apple, Inc’s work address and its homepage with myself. Depending on specific contact information shared, WhatsApp will provide additional options in the chat window. In the example above, I can tap on the received Apple Inc. contact card to reveal the homepage and work address I shared with myself.

But if send more contact information from Contacts to WhatsApp like phone number, the embedded contact card in WhatsApp’s chat window will provide buttons to immediately message the contact, save the card as a new contact on my iPhone or add information to one of the existing contacts on my device.

Lower data consumption

Viber’s most recent update brought out a more efficient data compression and WhatsApp follows suit. Just tap on the Settings icon alongside the bottom of the WhatsApp interface to bring up in-app settings. Now tap on Chats and Calls and then flip the Low Data Usage switch to ON.

WhatsApp says enabling the feature “further lowers the amount of data used during a WhatsApp call,” but stops short of saying how many kilobytes are saved during a call with this enabled. Viber, for instance, said its new data compression allows the app to burn just 84 kilobytes per minute to make an audio call on a 2G connection.

WhatsApp’s option that lowers data usage will be of particular importance to users in emerging markets and developing countries who either purchase data on the go in 100-megabyte buckets or their monthly cellular data allowance is below one gigabyte.

Video backups

I like WhatsApp’s built-in backup system that periodically saves my chats and media in the cloud. It gives me a piece of mind knowing that I can restore my chat history on another device in just a few seconds.

Now in WhatsApp 2.12.5, you can at last tell the app to back up videos, too.

To enable video backups, visit the Chats and Calls section in WhatsApp settings, tap on Chat Backup and flip the Include Videos switch to the ON position.

WhatsApp stores your backups in iCloud so it may be a good idea to perform a backup while on Wi-Fi or disable cellular data for iCloud if you really must back up a WhatsApp archive on a cellular connection.

WhatsApp 2.12.5 changelog

The following new features and enhancements are listed in the changelog:

• Per chat custom notification settings and mute
• You can now include videos in your chat backups in Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat Backup
• Mark chats as unread or read with a swipe to the right
• Better support for VoiceOver
• Directly share contacts from the Contacts app and locations from Apple Maps to WhatsApp
• Lower the data usage used during WhatsApp calls in Settings > Chats and Calls
• Earlier messages now load automatically as you scroll chats
• Improved design for cropping photos and videos
• Location messages now use a large map thumbnail

WhatsApp is the leading mobile messaging platform with more than 800 million active monthly users versus Viber’s installed base of 500 million active users.

WhatsApp availability

The 46-megabyte application requires an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with iOS 6.0 or later. WhatsApp is optimized for native display resolution on the iPhone 5/5c/5c, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but continues to lack an iPad-optimized interface and a WatchKit component for your wrist.

Source

WhatsApp reaches 700 million Active Monthly Users!

WhatsApp, an internet based messaging service, has just announced that over 700 million users actively use its service each month. This makes the company the most popular mobile messaging service around the world, and is even more popular than Facebook Messenger. This surge in popularity comes as WhatsApp continues to dominate the Indian messaging market.

Back in August, WhatsApp claimed 600 million active users and has gained around 300 million users over the past year. The mobile messaging service was acquired by Facebook for $22 billion last year, but the social networking giant has seen losses on its investment so far, as WhatsApp’s 99-cent subscription model does not generate a large amount of revenue. WhatsApp saw losses of approximately $230 million in the first half of last year and generated revenue of only $15 million.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, expects that WhatApps will end up contributing to Facebook’s profits, eventually. However, he does not expect this to happen until the app’s regular user base reaches the one billion mark. Based on this recent rate of growth, WhatApp could reach this milestone before the end of 2015.

WhatsApp still has plenty of room for growth in markets where it currently isn’t a major player, such as the US or China. However, temping customers away from their current services may prove more difficult.

Leaked screenshots of Voice calling in WhatsApp’s upcoming iPhone update!

As you know, the world’s most popular mobile messaging software, WhatsApp, is being purchased by the social networking giant Facebook for a staggering $16 billion. WhatsApp previously promised to introduce VoIP calling in the second quarter of this year, a move poised to turn the tables on competition like Viber, now owned by Rakuten.

While Viber last December unveiled a new Skype-like Viber Out feature for making low-cost outgoing calls to international mobile and landline numbers, a set of screenshots leaked on Friday purportedly depicting what WhatsApp’s VoIP calling will look like in its iPhone application, a free download from the App Store…

According to Italian Apple blog iPhoneItalia (Google translate), WhatsApp’s VoIP calling interface is heavily reminiscent of the new-look Phone app in the latest iOS 7.1 update, down to the circular End Call button. When a VoIP call comes in, the app displays your caller’s name, along with their photo and phone number. As the screenies attest, WhatsApp’s in-call features apparently include call-muting, directing the call through the speaker and switching back to a messaging session. Akin to other VoIP calling apps on the App Store, switching to another app while the VoIP session is in progress will prompt iOS to put a colored bar at the top so you can easily switch back to the call with a tap.

Another new feature: a camera button at the top of the keyboard which lets you quickly attach multiple photos to a text message. Sending multiple photos in the current WhatsApp version is a multi-tap affair (photo attachments are hidden behind the More button) so this minor tweak should be welcomed by fans of text messaging.

 

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum confirmed at Mobile World Congress a month ago that“we’re going to introduce voice on WhatsApp in the second quarter of this year.” iOS and Android editions of WhatsApp will get voice calling first, he said, with Windows Phone and some BlackBerry phones getting the feature at a later stage.

According to The Guardian, VoIP calling between WhatsApp users should be free. Currently, WhatsApp has voicemail and lets you send recorded messages to contacts.

You can download WhatsApp free of charge in the App Store.

Although it got refreshed with iOS 7-friendly look back in December, WhatsApp still supports iPhone and iPod touch devices running – wait for it – iOS 4.3 or later.

WhatsApp Update Lets You Hide “Last Seen” On Android Finally! Here’s How To Get It Right Now!

Ever since its launch, WhatsApp has always taken flak concerning privacy. Especially, the ‘Last Seen’ feature has been major headache for Android users, who couldn’t turn this notification off. Surprisingly, the provision to hide it on iOS has been there for quite some time.

Today, with the release of v2.11.169, WhatsApp has finally brought the ‘anti-stalker’ feature to Android. No more will your annoying friend know when you were last using your phone. In short, you can set it to be seen by certain contacts or simply turn it off.

Next up, is the ability to turn off Group Chat Notifications. WhatsApp now gives you better control over your group conversations, by allowing you to mute those annoying groups and not actually see any notifications. This is a welcome change since watching those hundreds notifications upon unlocking your phone isn’t a pleasant site.

Last feature allows you to pay for a friend’s WhatsApp account extension. One can choose  from 1, 3 or even a 5 year extension to the world’s largest messaging network via Google Wallet, PayPal or simply sending across a payment link. The Broadcast Notification options have been removed in this version, but the app still allows you to send broadcast messages. The update is currently not up on the Play Store yet, but one can download the latest .apk installer from the link given below.

www.whatsapp.com/android

WhatsApp iOS 7 update is out with new design, broadcast lists and more!

The highly anticipated iOS 7 update for WhatsApp finally landed in the App Store this afternoon. The update brings the iOS client for the popular messaging service to version 2.11.5, and includes an all new design, new features and various improvements.

One of the big new features in 2.11.5 is called broadcasts lists, and it allows you to send messages to many people simultaneously. So say for instance you have a list of your classmates or work colleagues, you can message them all at once instead of individually…

Here are the release notes for version 2.11.5:

– new iOS 7 User Interface

– broadcast lists: communicate with your classmates, work colleagues or just friends by messaging many people at once.

– improved share location: 3D map view, hide places, search places

– large thumbs: see more

– new notification alerts and sounds: WhatsApp Settings > Notifications > New Message.

– application will now use your device text size as configured in iOS Settings > General > Text Size

– new improved User Interface for managing your blocked contacts: WhatsApp Settings > Chat Settings > Blocked

– crop image before sending

Reminder: you can backup your WhatsApp conversations into iCloud. Simply visit WhatsApp Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup and tap on “Back Up Now”

The apps new design follows the same template as just about every other app that has been updated to match iOS 7′s aesthetics. There’s enough white space, flat graphics and blue accents to make all of the folks that don’t like Apple’s new design direction cringe.

But I happen to like the new design, and I’m really digging the UX improvements. There’s the new broadcast lists feature we already mentioned above, as well larger thumbnails, improved location sharing and blocking contacts is now much easier than before.

If you’re already a WhatsApp user, I feel like grabbing this update is a no-brainer. Just make sure, as the release notes caution, that you backup your conversations to iCloud before doing so. When you’re ready, you can findthe new WhatsApp in the App Store for free.