Skip to main content

WhatsApp hits 800m active users, could top a billion by year’s end

WhatsApp founder Jan Koum said Friday the messaging app now has 800 million users globally. Having added 100 million since January, the service looks set to top a billion users by the end of the year.

Facebook, you may recall, picked up WhatsApp for a staggering $19 billion back in February 2014.

Recommended Videos

The cross-platform app is yet to turn a profit, though this doesn’t appear to be an issue as Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has said in the past he wants to focus on building up the service’s user base before he thinks about monetization.

Zuckerberg has said on several occasions that while he expects WhatsApp to become an important revenue generator for his business as a whole, he won’t consider a serious money-making strategy till the service tops a billion users. Of course, the wait – now only a matter of months – is no hardship for Facebook, which currently rakes in billions of dollars each quarter thanks to the popularity of its social networking service.

However, it’s not clear how WhatsApp will eventually generate income, as Koum has often voiced his reluctance at the idea of putting ads on the messaging service.

While the app has a raft of competitors – Tango, Viber, Line, Kik, BBM, and WeChat among them – none has a user base as big as WhatsApp’s. And the speed at which it’s growing is certainly impressive. Facebook took around eight years to reach a billion users, while WhatsApp looks set to achieve the same feat in about six.

[Via WSJ]

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
WhatsApp might finally let you dodge video calls
Reminders feature in WhatsApp.

A new feature has been found in the latest WhatsApp beta version (2.25.7.3 for Android) that gives users the option to turn off their video before accepting a video call.

Right now, when you receive a video call on WhatsApp, your only options are to reject it or accept it and then quickly turn off your video. This is an obvious and pretty annoying infringement on users' privacy, forcing them to either show their faces or go to the trouble of covering their cameras until they hit the "off" button.

Read more
WhatsApp makes it easier to get the best out of Meta AI
Meta AI WhatsApp widget.

Meta has found another place to push its eponymous AI, after injecting it as a standalone chat character in the world’s most popular messaging app. The latest public beta build of WhatsApp now allows users to create a dedicated widget for Meta AI.

You can either go with a condensed view, or an expanded view where you see three different types of controls. The feature is rolling out with build number v2.25.6.14 of the app via Google Play Store.

Read more
WhatsApp gets a chat redesign
WhatsApp on iPhone with new themes.

If you’re a fan of WhatsApp, we have some good news for you. The free messaging and video calling app now includes chat themes, which should make your experience a little more customized.

To make the change, go to the Chats menu in Settings. From there, select Choose a new wallpaper, then select one of the preset options under two subcategories: Light or Dark.

Read more