Search Results for: WhatsApp

Facebook debuts new logo with different colors for distinction on its acquisitions Instagram, WhatsApp

Dianne Jacobs
Facebook

Social media leader, Facebook wants more people to know it owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus while still maintaining a distinct identity for its main app. So today it launched a new capitalization and typography format for its company name, using all capital letters and a shifting color scheme that highlights Instagram’s purple gradient and WhatsApp’s green tint. The idea to change the corporate logo to a minimalist rendering of the Facebook name, a move the company said is meant to separate the wider corporation — and its subsidiariesfrom the core…

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram in worst ever worldwide outage for the internet giant

Facebook said it was “back at 100 percent” after an outage on all of its services affected users in various parts of the world. Online monitoring service DownDetector reported on Wednesday that the outage began around 12:00 GMT and affected Facebook as well as its Instagram and WhatsApp services. “The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100 percent for everyone,” the company tweeted at 00:06 GMT on Thursday, adding they were sorry for “any inconvenience”. A Facebook spokesperson, also speaking on behalf of Instagram and…

WhatsApp to roll out a feature to block others from adding you to groups

WhatsApp forwarding

In a very much welcomed move, Facebook-owned WhatsApp has announced that it will roll out a feature in the coming weeks that gives users much more control over group chats in the app. The company will soon add a new privacy tool to the app that allows a user to block anyone from adding them to a group chat. The feature comes as concerns have mounted over the past few years that WhatsApp group chats are being used to spread fake news and disinformation. Under the new controls, a user…

MTN launches ‘world first’ WhatsApp-based Airtime Top-up service

olivia Craig

MTN says it will become the first mobile network in the world to let customers buy airtime and data bundles and check their balances directly on Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp. The service, MTN Chat, will help customers manage their accounts “off a secure and convenient platform they already know and love”, said Mapula Bodibe, MTN SA’s consumer business executive. “It’s imperative that companies focus on improving self-service experiences to retain and grow customers and this is an important step for MTN,” Bodibe said. Calling it a world first for the…

WhatsApp to limit text to 5 individuals or groups to reduce fake news

WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

n its efforts to fight fake news and it’s spread, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has announced that it has globally lowered the forward limit for chats to five contacts or groups. “We’re imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today,” Victoria Grand, vice president for policy and communications at WhatsApp, said at an event in the Indonesian capital. Before, WhatsApp allowed users globally to forward messages for up to 20 chats (either individuals or groups). VentureBurn reports that WhatsApp first initiated the lower limit in India back…

Rogue Move? Facebook to start flooding WhatsApp with Ads in 2019

Editor
WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

WhatsApp has been free, but soon users can expect a significant change in their experience of WhatsApp. The Android and iOS chat app, originally released in 2009, will start to embed paid-for content in the app’s Status feature from 2019. The Status feature is similar to Stories on Instagram and Facebook, letting users upload Snapchat-style pics and videos that can be viewed for 24 hours. Facebook wants to interrupt some of these Statuses with short ads, although details are light. WhatsApp’s co-founders were famously against ads, and supportive of encrypted…

Users Spent a Record 85 Billion Hours In WhatsApp vs 31 Billion In Facebook In The Past 3 Months

Editor

According to app analytics company Apptopia, among all the social media platforms, people globally spent a whopping 85 billion hours on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp in the last three months. By contrast, we’ve only spent 30 billion hours in Facebook, the company says. “It’s clear WhatsApp is the global messaging app of choice,” says Apptopia spokesperson Adam Blacker. “Apps having to do with communication take up most of our time spent on our mobile apps.” The data does not encompass all of China’s third-party Android app stores, or WeChat and other…

New WhatsApp Updates for Groups

Dianne Jacobs
WhatsApp forwarding

Groups have been an important part of the WhatsApp experience, whether it’s family members connecting across the globe or childhood friends staying in touch over the years. There are also people coming together in groups on WhatsApp like new parents looking for support, students organizing study sessions, and even city leaders coordinating relief efforts after natural disasters. Today, we’re sharing improvements that we’ve made to groups. What’s New Group description: A short blurb found under group info that allows you to set the purpose, guidelines, or topics for the group.…

WhatsApp Users can now Call Without Internet thanks to Rwandan Made Prototype

Dianne Jacobs

It is easier for a WhatsApp user in diaspora to audio or video call or chat with his or her counterpart in Africa who has the same application than traditional telephone calls and text messages. The situation is the same for people who use Skype, Facebook Messenger, Viber and WeChat, to mention a few. But at the moment, the number of smartphone holders is very small in many developing countries especially in Africa. For instance, the number of smartphone holders in Rwanda is below 1.2 million. This challenges service providers…

Thousands of WhatsApp customers reporting issues with the App

Dianne Jacobs
WhatsApp sync device

Independent website DownDetector, which tracks social comments around a certain topic to monitor outages across the globe, shows over a thousand of WhatsApp customers reporting issues using the app. According to the site, problems with the chat app occurred around 8am this morning, with hundreds of people reporting issues with the app. DownDetector says that 51 per cent of customers are having issue connecting to it. A further 29 per cent report issues receiving messages and 19 per cent are struggling to login. People can’t send or receive messages using…