Skip to main content

WhatsApp reaches 20 billion messages a day, CEO calls it “Bigger than Twitter”

whatsapp facebook
Image used with permission by copyright holder

WhatsApp, the cross-platform messaging service that saves you from carrier SMS text messaging charges for a dollar a year, has announced that it’s now “Bigger than Twitter,” with more than 200 million active users.

CEO Jan Koum, speaking yesterday at the Dive into Mobile conference, also mentioned yesterday that they’re currently processing 20 billion messages every day – 12 billion outbound, 8 million inbound.

One of Koum’s less pleasant duties at the conference involved debunking a rumor that Google was looking to buy WhatsApp for a billion dollars (we reported said rumor). He said that he and his co-founder haven’t ever spoken of selling the company, and expressed his wish for bloggers to take more responsibility in maintaining control of the rumor mill. He made it very clear how disruptive the acquisition press can be to his team.

If you’re late to the party on WhatsApp, it provides inter-platform messaging between Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia, and Blackberry. It runs on your standard Internet data plan, and supports video, audio, and unlimited pics. The company’s site is tailored to actual people, too, with a candid, conversational blog and an ad-condemning Fight Club quote on their front page. And oh yeah, they don’t sell ad space. 

You probably know someone (very possibly yourself) who’s gotten gypped on messaging at some point, but pretty much everyone reading this should have unlimited texting by now, so what’s WhatsApp’s big draw?

Well, first off, you can make group chats and save them, which is good for anyone who actually uses texts for information gathering, and doesn’t want to worry about older messages getting deleted. The app has also got its own notification and privacy settings, so at the end of the day, it could be seen as just another way to section off your contacts. But with 20 billion messages going through the service every day, we wonder if WhatsApp will be seen down the road as the app that killed the SMS.

Editors' Recommendations

Saul Berenbaum
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saul Berenbaum has been writing film and gaming reviews since college. Recently, he contributed to HardcoreDroid. Now he…
How to preview WhatsApp voice messages before sending
An image showing a women using her phone for messaging.

WhatsApp has been on a feature-addition spree for a while now. Among the recently introduced features on the popular instant messaging platform are the ability to move messages from iPhones to Pixels, the option to send disappearing messages, and supporting crypto-powered mobile payments — and it seems it's not done yet.

WhatsApp’s official Twitter account tweeted about the addition of a new feature that millions of users have been demanding for a really long time. Yes, WhatsApp finally lets you preview voice messages before sending them. Here’s how you can use the new preview feature with WhatsApp voice notes to make sure you don't end up sending a voice note that you may later regret.

Read more
You can finally move your WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS
WhatsApp and Telegram app icons.

Moving WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS has been a painful task for years. But not anymore, as Apple and WhatsApp have made the process a whole lot easier. Starting today, Apple is adding a feature that allows you to move chats between the two platforms. The feature is a part of Apple’s existing “Move to iOS” Android application. It’s worth noting that the feature is currently available for beta users only, so non-beta users might have to wait for a week or two as it's rolled out in phases.

This is a big move since 2 million people use WhatsApp and, until now, there wasn’t an official method to move conversations between Android and iOS. There have been third-party solutions here and there, but nothing officially backed by Apple or WhatsApp. With the feature becoming available, users will be able to move their chats swiftly from Android to iOS.

Read more
WhatsApp to end support for older iPhones in coming months
WhatsApp messaging app icon.

If you’re still rocking a decade-old iPhone 5 or 5C and use WhatsApp, you should be aware that the Facebook-owned company will soon be ending support for those devices.

A WhatsApp notification spotted by WhatsApp specialist site WABetaInfo reveals that the company will end support for iOS 10 and iOS 11 in the fall. The iPhone 5 and 5C are unable to deploy iOS 12 and later, which means WhatsApp on those two handsets will stop receiving the latest updates for security, features, and general functionality.

Read more