Is WhatsApp the SMS-killer?

Simple thing my SO's son told me: Mxit chosw a phone's battery dead in no time - Whatsapp doesn't...
 
ocleroux said:
One of the reasons why WhatsApp is taking off as it does is because it scans your phonebook and add the contats for has WhatsApp on their phone automatically for you. You dont need a to sign up for a username and password and ask people what their usernames or pin is to add them blah blah blah blah blah! It is just such a freaking pain in tha arse!
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plus it's always on and way easier to use and doesn't have that teenie booper tag attached to it or chat rooms . simple is always best look a google.com or iphone os
 
I've stolen my friend's phone a few times and have been happy with whatsapp - just sad that there is no version for my poor old java phone.
 
Mr Feesh said:
You can only run whatsApp one one phone at a time surely? Cause its linked to your sim?
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Its not linked to your sim but to your phone number.

I installed it on another cell with a different sim but registered with my number. I had two cellphones with two different sims on the same account.

Your cellphone number is basically your username and can be used with any sim.
 
Niren_M said:
Excellent app, especially over WiFi.
Free for a year, then $1.99 per yearly contract to use it. Definitely worth it since it is available to Nokia, Android and IPhone.

Going to kill operator SMS revenues, for sure.
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Yes, and that my problem. There is no version out for Windows Mobile... Can't use it on my HTC HD2. :mad:
 
@ppl saying this is like any other IM, I beg to differ as this brings up a message box when the app is minimized so all it needs is to be running in the background. I use it and happily have payed the $1, works amazingly and I love it !
 
Mr Feesh said:
You can only run whatsApp one one phone at a time surely? Cause its linked to your sim?
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OK, I see how they link it to your SIM but considering that your MSISDN is not stored on your SIM, only your IMSI, I can see some abuse problems in the future when accounts get hijacked. For personal use WhatsApp is a contender, but for business I see too many security flaws to use it.
 
I installed whatsapp and logged in and saw a whole lot of people I never want to speak to again, have not logged in since

and I hear you have to pay after a year? LOL as well as obviously leave your data connection open which chows your battery, fail...
 
Whatsapp is well made but it's certainly not a replacement for SMS. They are a closed, centralised, proprietary system with no public API, which is NO GOOD. SMS is a stalwart that's been around for years -- can we expect this poky company to do the same? If they run into business difficulties it's overs for the entire network (and I'm not excited to have to pony up after a year, whatever the cost).

So Whatsapp is not an SMS killer. Something like XMPP is a true replacement for SMS -- it's an open standard, and it's decentralised. We just don't have any good clients for it (even Gtalk isn't great).

I think HTC, Blackberry and Apple should get together and develop XMPP clients for their respective devices, so that they're interoperable. That will kill SMS.
 
theJonster said:
another messenger...another account i now have to have to communicate. gtalk, msn, skype, bbm <- these all do the same thing and bar bbm they are all free, why do we now need another one????

please people, use your brains and just use one of the existing ones. Android phones come gtalk standard, blackberrys can get gtalk, skype is free and you can phone people on their computers (wow can you imagine!!). We all already have accounts for these apps, why must we now get another one??!! Urgh, the stupidity of it frustrates me..
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+1

Gtalk is fully integrated into android phones and bb's, so there is immediate notification of new messages. On droids, after setting up your gmail, gtalk is automatically active. Also gtalk is integrated with gmail and many people have gmail as their primary email account, and have it open all the time on their computers. I also chat with mxit users through gtalk. Gtalk and mxit for android both stay active in background giving notifications of new messages on home screen. Why should I give up gtalk?
 
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wayfarer said:
Also gtalk is integrated with gmail and many people have gmail as their primary email account, and have it open all the time on their computers.
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Well WhatsApp uses the same concept, but unlike Gmail its scope is not limited to a single domain/service. Rather it uses the global E.164 telephone numbering system.

When you install WA it registers your number centrally and interrogates your phonebook trying to match contact numbers with those already registered. All matches are automatically added as contacts in WA, no need to manually add or remember any kind of username/nick.

As more of your friends/associates (in your phonebook) install WA, so are they automatically added without any intervention (as are you to their contacts).

Its this simplicity of association that's WhatsApp's real uniqueness.
 
nivek said:
You couldn't be more wrong..
I have 5 ACTIVE contacts on Gtalk and over 50 active contacts on whatsapp, with new people joining every day and im sure that applies to most people
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It's like myspace vs facebook. One wins cos it works better.
They state under requirements 'unlimited data contract'. That will no doubt scare some off, I wonder how much data it goes through. On my Nokia E52 I really like the 'share location' feature. Effortless! I was anti to start with but I decided to spend R50 on 100Mb data bundle for myself and my wife and load whatsap. I suspect we won't use it all or even a fraction.
 
moer said:
I wonder how much data it goes through.
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The Android version can tell you under Menu -> Settings -> More -> Network Usage

I'm averaging about 2 KB/message excluding media.

That works to less than half a cent per message even at R2/MB.

Think of it as being able to send/receive ~200 messages for the price of an SMS.
 
saliehendricks said:
Agreed. And also quite invasive. I was on it for 2 days and I get clients sms/whatsapping me over a damn weekend. Removed it.
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This is Gtalk's problem as well. When will someone recognize that "contact" doesn't mean "best friend"?! Google has a real problem with this. Can't help thinking it's because the guys developing the software don't have any contacts who aren't also their colleagues.
 
Flash your HD2 to Android. Problem solved :)

I ran Android on my HD2 for nearly a year before upgrading to the DHD. PM me if you need more info.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk
 
Tomtomtom said:
This is Gtalk's problem as well. When will someone recognize that "contact" doesn't mean "best friend"?! Google has a real problem with this. Can't help thinking it's because the guys developing the software don't have any contacts who aren't also their colleagues.
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Ban those contacts!
 
Tomtomtom said:
The Android version can tell you under Menu -> Settings -> More -> Network Usage

I'm averaging about 2 KB/message excluding media.

That works to less than half a cent per message even at R2/MB.

Think of it as being able to send/receive ~200 messages for the price of an SMS.
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Aaah, awesome - thanks for that. I suspect I'll use more data than my wife so perhaps I can save the 50 bucks for the 100mb she's paying... I'll lt it run for a month.
 
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