What is WhatsApp and How it Works?

What is WhatsApp:

WhatsApp is a messaging service that is available for free on various platforms, such as iPhone, Android smartphones, Mac, and Windows PC. It allows users to communicate with others globally, regardless of the type of device they use. The service lets users exchange text, photo, audio and video messages without any charges. Unlike other messaging services such as Apple iMessage and Messages by Google, WhatsApp uses Wi-Fi to communicate cross-platform, which makes it a cost-effective option for users who do not have unlimited data plans. The service is especially useful for those who have family abroad, travel internationally or reside outside the United States.

How does WhatsApp work:

To use WhatsApp, all you need is a smartphone with an internet connection, a SIM card, and a phone number. Once you download and set up the app on your smartphone, you can also link your WhatsApp account to a desktop version of the app on a tablet or computer.

WhatsApp is similar to other messaging services that work exclusively on Wi-Fi, like Facebook Messenger. However, instead of requiring a username and password, WhatsApp identifies users by their phone number. The app automatically adds anyone from your phone contact list who is also using WhatsApp to your contact list, making it easy to connect with friends and family across different platforms.

Key WhatsApp terminology:

Cross-platform refers to the ability of a messaging app to allow communication between different types of devices from various vendors. This means that users can connect and communicate with each other using iPhones, Android phones, and desktop versions of the app.

End-to-end encryption is a security feature that ensures all messages and exchanges are encrypted cross-platform, protecting the privacy and security of the users.

Messaging apps allow users to exchange messages over Wi-Fi or cellular networks, providing them with flexibility in their communication options.

Video calls are another feature of messaging apps that enable users to communicate using video, as well as voice and text.

WhatsApp Business is a version of the app designed specifically for businesses. It allows employers to connect with customers and employees, share information quickly and directly, and manage their business-related communications more efficiently.

WhatsApp is a free messaging app that can be downloaded and used without any charges. However, if users travel outside the range of their network and use WhatsApp to communicate, they may incur data overage charges depending on their data plan.

If a user does not have an internet connection, they can choose to use cellular data to communicate instead. This option can be turned on or off in the app's Settings menu.

Users can view their data usage in the Data and Storage Usage section of the app's settings. WhatsApp automatically downloads all media received to the user's phone, which can take up a lot of data. If users are concerned about data usage, they can turn on the Low Data Usage setting or modify the download settings in Media Auto-Download to prevent the app from automatically downloading photos, videos, and other documents when it has access to Wi-Fi. Despite modifying these settings, users can still view their media within WhatsApp itself.

WhatsApp key features:

WhatsApp has features similar to messaging services like iMessage and Google Messages, but it is different because it only uses Wi-Fi to work. This means it can do things that other messaging apps can't do, like show your activity status, make sure your messages are private with end-to-end encryption, and let you delete messages after you've sent them.

These, along with WhatsApp's other key features, include the following:

WhatsApp offers users the ability to make voice and video calls over Wi-Fi, making international calls free. They also provide free group video and voice calls for up to eight people. Another popular feature of WhatsApp is voice messaging, which allows users to record and send messages instead of typing them out.

WhatsApp has a feature called activity status that lets users share their activity with their contacts. This feature allows users to see when their contacts are active on the app and typing a message. If a contact is offline, users can see when they were last active. WhatsApp also provides read receipts, which tell the sender when their message has been sent, delivered and read by the recipient. Users can choose to disable these features if they prefer.

WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to secure user communication from third parties like hackers and internet service providers. E2EE encrypts a sender's message in such a way that only the recipient can read it. Unlike other messaging services such as iMessage and Messages by Google, WhatsApp uses E2EE for cross-platform messaging. Additionally, users can set up biometric authentication like fingerprint locks to protect their chats.

With WhatsApp, users can share photos and videos while maintaining their original quality due to its use of Wi-Fi. This is a feature that sets it apart from most SMS messaging services.

WhatsApp provides users with the ability to share a wide range of file types, such as text documents, PDFs, slideshows, HTML files, and zip archives, that are up to 100 MB in size. Additionally, the app offers a desktop version for Mac and Windows, which can be downloaded and used independently of a user's phone. This differs from the desktop version of Messages by Google, which can only be accessed through a web browser. The desktop version of WhatsApp enables users to access their messages conveniently, even if their phone is not working or unable to send and receive messages. However, it's worth noting that the desktop version of WhatsApp does not support voice or video calling.

WhatsApp Business is a version of the messaging app that's designed specifically for businesses. It allows companies to communicate with their customers and employees in a more effective manner, particularly for small businesses that may not have the resources to invest in a dedicated messaging platform. WhatsApp Business is particularly useful for companies that have frontline workers or other groups that use their personal devices to communicate. Additionally, WhatsApp users can share their location with contacts in real-time, which is helpful when trying to locate one another.

WhatsApp has a unique feature that enables users to delete messages they've sent, which is not available in iMessage or Messages by Google. This feature allows users to remove the message from the recipient's device and prevent them from accessing it in the future. This can be especially useful if a user has sent a message to the wrong person or has shared confidential information that should not be seen by the recipient. Additionally, WhatsApp users can reply privately to each other within group chats, which is beneficial if they want to respond to one person without other members of the chat being aware of the exchange.

WhatsApp has a unique feature that enables users to delete messages they've sent, which is not available in iMessage or Messages by Google. This feature allows users to remove the message from the recipient's device and prevent them from accessing it in the future. This can be especially useful if a user has sent a message to the wrong person or has shared confidential information that should not be seen by the recipient. Additionally, WhatsApp users can reply privately to each other within group chats, which is beneficial if they want to respond to one person without other members of the chat being aware of the exchange.

How secure it is:

WhatsApp is a more secure messaging app compared to other apps like Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages because it uses something called E2EE messaging. This means that the messages are encrypted, making it harder for hackers or other people to see the content of the messages. WhatsApp is also better at cross-platform messaging, which means that it is easier for people to message each other even if they are using different devices or operating systems.

In contrast, other messaging apps like iMessage and Messages by Google also have E2EE, but it's not supported when users message across different platforms. This means that when someone using an Apple device sends a message to someone using an Android device, the message is not encrypted.

WhatsApp also offers encrypted backups of messages, which means that nobody can see the messages even if they are stored in the cloud. This is turned off by default, but users can turn it on in the settings if they want to.

WhatsApp is a messaging app that is vulnerable to security risks like phishing. One unique risk for WhatsApp users is that the app automatically downloads all media that is sent to their device. This means that malware or viruses can be sent to a user's WhatsApp account, which can hack their phone and gain access to all data stored on it. In some cases, the hacker can even record conversations and take photos using the user's camera.

Although WhatsApp cannot access the content of user messages, it shares user metadata with its parent company Meta (formerly Facebook) and other Meta companies. This metadata includes information like the user's phone number, profile photo, activity status, send dates of WhatsApp messages, and IP addresses used. Sometimes, Meta also provides user metadata to authorities with warrants or subpoenas, and it has surveilled users at the direction of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Whatsapp history:

Brian Acton and Jan Koum, who had worked at Yahoo, started WhatsApp in 2009. The name is a combination of "what's up?" and "app", and it was originally designed to attach statuses to iPhone users' contacts. However, after Apple added push notifications to their apps later that year, WhatsApp 2.0 was launched, allowing users to message and notify others using an internet connection instead of cellular networks. This made WhatsApp one of the first messaging apps to use the internet for messaging and calling.

When WhatsApp first became popular, it was mostly used by people outside of the United States. In 2020, WhatsApp said that it had over 2 billion users all over the world. According to a report, it is still the most popular messaging app used by people outside of China.

Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. This led to changes in WhatsApp's privacy rules and new features like WhatsApp Business and video chat. Despite these changes, WhatsApp is still a secure messaging app. If you want to know more about instant messaging and mobile security, you can learn about it.