Messaging Apps In The Apac Region
Not only is WhatsApp a popular communication app in Singapore, it is also number one in other countries in the Asia-Pacific Region: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, just to name a few. The market landscape in the Asia-Pacific Region is locally dominated by regional app providers such as WeChat, KakaoTalk or LINE, so its specifically impressive that WhatsApp still manages to haev such a strong lead.
The four leading social apps in Asia are WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Viber and LINE.
Whatsapp Revenue And Usage Statistics
WhatsApp is a messaging app for smartphones created in 2009 by two former Yahoo employees, Brian Acton and Jan Koum.
It was Koum who saw the potential of operating through the Apple App Store after purchasing an iPhone in early 2009. The app initially focused on statuses Koum later revealed that part of his motivation was to stop missing calls will he was the gym.
The app, developed by Igor Solomennikov, who the team found through RentACoder.com, leveraged Apples new push notification feature to update users networks with status updates. Users quickly came to use this as an instant messaging service, planting the seed for what the app would become. WhatsApp 2.0 incorporated the messaging function that would come to be the apps defining feature.
WhatsApp was unique at the time, outside of Blackberrys BBM, in providing a free message service that allowed users to log in with their phone number. WhatsApp 2.0 was an instant success, quickly reaching 250,000 active users. This was enough for Acton to convince a circle of fellow ex-Yahoo employees to part with $250,000 in seed funding.
Naturally, this growth has attracted money even with practically non-existent WhatsApp revenue. Venture capital titans Sequoia Capital invested $8 million in April 2011 after eight months of negotiations, and a further $52 million in February 2013. This gave us a WhatsApp valuation of $1.5 billion.
We have collected data and statistics on WhatsApp. Read on below to find out more.
How Do I Use Whatsapp
WhatsApp is simple to use once you get the hang of it. It’s a messaging app, so it works in a similar way to texting. This video shows you how to get started on WhatsApp, including how to add contacts from your phone.
How to send messages on WhatsApp:
There are extra features you can use, like sending photos:
Sharing photos can be a great way to feel closer to people, even when you’re not able to meet up.
Don’t Miss: What Does Ib Mean On Facebook
You Cannot Rely On Whatsapp’s End To End Encryption For Security Of Information
Even discounting suggestions that Facebook might be circumventing encryption on WhatsApp via ‘wiretapping’, you cannot rely on the end to end encryption of the messages to prevent your content being compromised. This is because there are at least two places where your message content exists unencrypted:
- Backups of WhatsApp are not encrypted. So if you, or anyone you are in conversations with, backs up their WhatsApp then that content is not encrypted.
- Exports of chats are not encrypted. Anyone in any group you belong to can export the entire chat history of the group as a plain text file and publish it anywhere or send/store it anywhere unencrypted.
You must therefore assume that any sensitive business information in WhatsApp can easily be exposed at any time despite the end to end encryption within the messaging app itself.
Send A Public Message Privately
Ever had a free evening and wanted to ask several of your friends if they are around without having to open up each chat to ask them separately?
You can send a broadcast message to a list of contacts with it appearing as though you’ve asked them individually. Great for saving time, terrible if they all reply yes.
iOS: Chats > Broadcast Lists > New List > Add contacts.
Android: Chats > Menu > New Broadcast.
Don’t Miss: Gmail Safe List
Payment Requests To Unknown/unlisted Accounts
Usually, cybercriminals will ask you to make a direct transfer to an unknown account, often a conduit account used by criminals to quickly move money to a string of other accounts. Or they may ask you to transfer money via PayPal, Facebook Messenger Payments, Google Pay, Apple Pay Cash or apps such as Cash App or Venmo . Alarm bells should go off in this instance as well, especially if the payment method requested is not familiar to you.
In any case, it is wise to double check and be suspicious when responding to these types of payment requests. In many cases, you cannot see or verify the account number. And although the above payment systems have security measures in place, it is still possible to create fake accounts that work as conduit bank accounts. Some apps also support Bitcoin payments. Unfortunately, there is no way of verifying whether the person you are transferring money to is indeed someone you know.
Even worse, if a scammer has somehow gotten hold of a friends or acquaintances personal details, like a utility bill or some other form of identity confirmation , and that person does not already have, lets say, a PayPal account, the fraudster can open a fake or stealth PayPal account in their name.
How To Use Whatsapp For Business
You can use WhatsApp for business efforts in a couple of different ways. Mainly, the app is used for communication and sharing, and that’s the basis of using WhatsApp to your advantage.
WhatsApp can be a powerful app to have in your toolkit. You can improve visibility, automate communication, and keep your workflow organized.
The app is also free to use and manage, so you won’t be spending money downloading new software. Let’s cover how some other ways to use WhatsApp as an asset for your company.
Also Check: How To Delete Third Party Apps For Snapchat
Whatsapp Is All About Mobility
WhatsApp was made for mobile devices and not for traditional computers, so it didn’t need to adapt to the mobile environment like its PC-first competitors. It came at a time when smartphone adoption was booming, and there was an unprecedented shift from the computer to the tablet PC and smartphone. Also, 2G and 3G data became more accessible and cheaper in many places. Although WhatsApp is a free app, data rates apply in some instances.
How Do You Share Your Live Location In Whatsapp
WhatsApp lets you share with other users exactly where you are – it’s a handy feature if you’re driving somewhere as they can see if you’re stuck in traffic without you having to make a call. Open WhatsApp and press Chats. Tap the chat you’re having with the person you want to share your location with and then press the + button on an iPhone or the paperclip if you’re using Android. Choose Location and then Share Live Location followed by the length of time you want to share your location for. Now press the arrow icon on the right to send your location.
You May Like: Snapchat Signs Meaning
I Deleted Whatsapp For A Year And Here’s What I Learned
An initial flurry of real calls and more time to read turned into losing contacts, missing out on groups and upsetting my wife
At the end of 2016, I sent a message to all my contacts: After 31 December, I will not use WhatsApp any more. Instead, I will use Threema and Signal.
On New Years Eve, I closed my WhatsApp account and deleted the app from my phone. A few clicks later, Id left all my family, friend and work groups, the school groups of my children and all my individual contacts.
During the first minutes of 2017, I saw my friends typing on their phones while mine remained unusually silent. Suddenly I was not available anymore. It felt strange, uncomfortable, daring and good.
My initial reasoning for such a drastic step had little to do with mindfulness or the want of being disconnected. I had installed WhatsApp in 2012 only because all my friends had it. By the end of 2016, the ubiquitous chat app started to send me annoying periodical reminders that it would stop working because the operating system of my beloved Nokia phone was no longer supported.
The notifications made me wonder whether I should be using non-Facebook-owned alternatives and stop spending so much time on convenient but seldom meaningful chats.
My defiance turned into a social experiment: I bought a smarter phone but uninstalled the application that, Facebook says, one billion people around the world use every day to stay in touch with their family and friends.
Do I Really Need Another Messaging App
Email and SMS have long been the most common channels businesses use to connect with their customers. They are effective channels in their own right. But in an omnichannel world, thats changing. Messaging apps like WhatsApp have capabilities that allow you to have a more significant impact on customer satisfaction, while expanding your reach, improving deliverability, managing support costs, increasing conversions, sharpening security, and achieving other important business KPIs.
Of course, other messaging channels like SMS, MMS, RCS, LINE, Facebook Messengerplus chat and voicestill have a central role in any businesses communication strategy, and are likely here to stay. However, in some Latin American, Asian, and African countries, it is the total app of choice, giving many companies a chance to engage a broader global audience.
Employing WhatsApp Business as part of your messaging strategy can be a game changera necessary tool to help you remain competitive. We’ve compiled five reasons to consider using WhatsApp Business in your customer communications.
1. Creating superior brand connections.
2. Connecting with customers where they already are.
3. Engaging globally.
4. Championing two-sided conversations.
5. Messaging privately and securely.
Twilio has taken out the complexity from the development process to make it easier for those businesses to get up and running with Twilio’s API for WhatsApp Business.
Also Check: How Do I See My Old Instagram Bios
What Is A Whatsapp Group Chat
With WhatsApp, you can send messages to more than one person at a time. This is called a group chat. Everyone will receive the same messages and everyone will see everyone elses replies, so its just like all being together. Its a great way of staying in touch with groups of people. And because everyone can chip in their tuppence worth, you get a real sense of the personalities involved and the group dynamics.
To start a group chat, just go to the Chats tab at the bottom of the WhatsApp screen, and tap New Group. You can then add participants by tapping on their names . You can also name the group , and add a picture.
Once the group is set up, just type a message and itll be delivered to everyone in the group.
Whatsapp Usage By Country
India is currently WhatsApps biggest market, with 340 million users in the South Asian country . That puts it way ahead of WhatsApps second-largest market, Brazil, which is home to 99 million users. In fact, WhatsApp users in India made up nearly half of the total number of WhatsApp app downloads in the month of February 2020.
In spite of its Californian roots, WhatsApp is surprisingly not as popular in the US as most would think, with just 68 million users in the country. Of these, 26 million are considered to be monthly active users.
It appears most mobile messenger app users in the US prefer to communicate through Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, which have 106 million and 46 million monthly active users respectively.
But despite the relatively low WhatsApp usage in the US, experts are forecasting a steady increase in growth and expect there to be over 85 million WhatsApp users in the US by 2023.
You may also be interested to know that despite Chinas ban, there are approximately two million people using WhatsApp in China.
Recommended Reading: How Do You Delete A Twitter Account On Iphone
The Bottom Line On Whatsapp & Internal Communication
Using WhatsApp in the work environment seems comfortable and easy. And sure, it seems easy to implement WhatsApp quickly and successfully, even if not formally, in the organization, but if you take a better look, youll find a lot of malfunctions that can eventually prove to be very costly.
At the end of the day, it is clear to business owners that their company is ready for an employee communication app as the next communication tool for the company.
Today, more and more companies around the world use an employee communication app for all their organizational needs.
Whats an employee communication tool? Its a mobile-friendly tool tailored for the organizations needs in order to have one place to easily communicate with each other in real-time.
The solution is designed to tackle the different challenges of the organizational field, now thousands of companies worldwide use the Connecteam employee app to keep track of the organizations data, manage groups automatically, add restrictions and authorizations, create diverse channels, produce reports and run organizational communication successfully and professionally.
The chat feature helps staff stay engaged and connected. We created chat home teams where employees can celebrate achievements and send updates about anything and everything.
Brian Jolliff, COO at Total Compass Care
How To Start A Chat
Now that your profile is set, its time to get to the task at hand: chatting! The first time you open the app you wont have any chats open, but you can start a new chat by tapping on the chat bubble in the bottom right.
From there, simply select the contact you want to chat with from the list. If you already have a previous chat with that contact, it will open that instead of a brand new chat. All thats left now is to type your message at the bottom of the screen. After entering your text, tap the arrow icon that appears alongside the text box to send it.
You can also send pictures or files on WhatsApp by tapping the paperclip or camera icons at the bottom of the screen. WhatsApp has a built-in camera app, but its better to use your normal camera app to take the picture and select it in the gallery to send. This will give you more options to edit, and generally results in higher quality photos.
You can also send pictures or files on WhatsApp by tapping the paperclip or camera icon.
To start a group chat, tap the same chat bubble as before, then tap New Group. You can then select the members you want to invite, enter a name for the group, and start chatting!
There are all kinds of additional features available, so be sure to check out our list of WhatsApp tips and tricks for more info.
Don’t Miss: How To View Protected Twitter Accounts
Turn On Disappearing Messages
Turning on Disappearing Messages will make any new messages in a chat disappear after seven days. Remember the messages can still be saved elsewhere though. You can read more about Disappearing Messages in our separate feature.
iOS & Android: Specific chat > Click on the person’s name at the top of chat > Disppearing Messages > On.
Search A Specific Chat
If you want to search a specific chat rather than all of your chats, this is possible too. Maybe you had a conversation about a specific meeting place, or they sent you their other contact number or their address for example.
iOS: Chats > Specific chat > Tap on contact info at the top > Chat Search > Type in the search bar that appears at the top of that specific chat.
Android: Chats > Specific chat > Open the menu top right > Search > Type in the search bar that appears at the top of that specific chat.
Don’t Miss: Linkedin Bullets And Symbols
Improve Your Business’s Visibility
Similar to Facebook, WhatsApp allows businesses to have a Business page on the app. Your profile will offer important information for customers, such as location, description, website, and contact details. You can also add a catalog to your WhatsApp, like shown below:
The catalog tool lets you upload your products in bulk, so users can browse your offerings through the app. This tool is an easy way for customers to get an idea of what they can purchase from your business. Having a business page for your company increases the amount of possible customers who can interact with your business using the app.
For instance, let’s say your customers want to know what your business offers, but don’t feel like Googling it. If your catalog is set up, they’ll be able to access your offerings before their attention is diverted to something else.
You can use catalogs to display a new product line, or feature your most popular products to entice your audience members.
Number Of Users Interacting With Business Profiles On Whatsapp
According to WhatsApp head Will Cathcart, approximately 175 million people send messages to business accounts on WhatsApp every day.
Thats my list of WhatsApp statistics for 2021. The messenger app was already quite popular as an independent business. And has grown significantly under Facebook, becoming the most popular mobile messaging app on the planet.
Hopefully, you found these growth and user stats interesting.
Now Id like to hear from you:
Do you think WhatsApp will keep its top status despite privacy concerns? Or do you have questions about the data in this stats roundup?
Whatever it is, please feel free to leave a comment below.
You May Like: How To Delete All Promotions In Gmail At Once