Download WhatsApp | AppsFound

by Rick

Servicing over 450 million monthly users, WhatsApp is a messaging application that lets users chat and share media. WhatsApp is so popular that Facebook bought the application for $16 billion in 2014 in efforts to buy their only serious competitor, ranked one position above them in popularity. The Majority of Users using the application reside in Europe, Latin America, and India, making up the majority of the 450 million monthly users. Users are able to have a free first of Whatsapp but must pay a $0.99 free the following years to continue using the service.

Download Whatsapp free and enjoy chatting with your friends and relatives for hours. In order to obtain the application, one may download it in the application store of any iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows, or Symbian cell phone. After downloading the application, the user is asked for their name and phone number, including their country code. By entering only one’s name and phone number, they are able to easily communicate to anyone and everyone they know with the application.

Founded by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, two previous Yahoo! inc. engineers, WhatsApp was a movement to shun advertising. With 450 million monthly users later after the engineer’s start-up, the application has grown to be highly successful. Koum, now 39, had immigrated from Ukraine, in which he states phone lines were often tapped. Living under such circumstances paved the way as motivation for the given privacy when using the application.

Whatsapp is an application that instead of collecting name, gender, age, and an address, only collects one’s phone number.

Both Acton and Koum worked together at Yahoo!, a time in which Acton invested and lost millions of dollars with the crash of the market. Following their leave from Yahoo!, the team founded the app is efforts to establish a service that allows a smooth exchange of messages without the unnecessary fees. The team decided to not work with advertisement or public relations of any sort, and believed in organic word-of-mouth recommendations from it’s pleased users. The service boomed in Europe, a geographic continent theoretically most prone to gaining popularity due to the communication between friends and family of different nations and territories.

Along with avoiding advertisement, the WhatsApp duo also lived through a very humble beginning in their rather empty office, avoiding investors.

With a 15 percent stake that is now worth about $3.5 billion, Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital invested a whopping $8 million in 2011.

Although Facebook has bought Whatsapp, they remain dedicated to the core principles that existed during the creating of the application.

WhatsApp Tips & Tricks

1. Hide “Last Seen” Timestamp

WhatsApp displays a “last seen” timestamp which tells users the last time you were on WhatsApp. Some people may not be comfortable with this and want to disable the timestamp.

For iOS users, you will need to go to Settings > Chat > Settings > Advanced and turn off the Last Seen Timestamp option.

For Android users, you cannot change this setting within the app itself. You will need to get a third party app like Hide WhatsApp Status, which will prevent it from displaying the timestamp.

2. How to Backup and Restore Chats

For iOS users, go to Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup and select Backup Now.

For Android users, go to Settings > Chat Settings and select Backup conversions. Doing so will backup your conversions, but it will not backup your media. If you would like to backup your media you must use a file manage and copy the media folders in /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media

To restore a backup, you will need to reinstall WhatsApp. After reinstalling, you should be asked if you would like to restore the most recent backup.

3. Locking WhatsApp

You may want to lock your WhatsApp for security or privacy reasons so that others may not read your WhatsApp messages from your phone. There are several apps that help to accomplish this.

For Android users, there is something called WhatsApp Lock. This app lets you protect most popular messaging and chat applications by securing them with a PIN.

For BlackBerry users, there is an app called Lock for WhatsApp. This app helps prevent unauthorized access to WhatsApp.

4. Contact Shortcuts

You can set a shortcut on your home screen to go to your favorite WhatsApp contact or group, allowing you to communicate more efficiently. The process is a bit different for each OS, but for Android users, press and hold the group or contact, and tap on add conversions shortcut. This will create a shortcut to that contact or group on your home screen.

5. Disable WhatsApp Images to your Gallery

You may not want WhatsApp images to be shown in your camera roll. To disable this setting, iOS users can go to Settings > Privacy > Photos and turn off WhatsApp.

Caution – Whatsapp download links from third-party websites should be avoided. If you intend to download and install Whatsapp, you should do so from official app stores or from the official whatsapp website.

Important Information

Whatsapp is free to download and use for the first year. After the first year it becomes $0.99/year. Users are charged through the play store. To unsubscribe you can simply uninstall the app from your phone.

Paying Subscription

First, open WhatsApp and press the Menu Button > Settings > Account > Payment Info

From here you can choose a payment options. Depending on your mobile carrier you may be able to pay through your plan. If you don’t see the option to pay through your plan, you can follow this article in the Whatsapp FAQ section. For more information on making Google play payments, you can read this article. After making your payment, it may take an additional 3-5 days to process your payment. Your subscription can be extending for 1, 3, or 5 years.