 |
|
| Developer(s) | |
|---|---|
| Initial release | January 2009 |
| Stable release(s) | |
|
iOS: 2.17.7 (February 27, 2017) |
|
| Development status | Active |
| Written in | Erlang |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Type | Instant messaging and social media |
| License | Freeware, proprietary |
| Website | www |
 |
|
| Type of business | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | February 24, 2009 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California, United States |
| Founder(s) | |
| CEO | Jan Koum |
| Employees | 50 |
| Parent | |
| Website | whatsapp |
iOS: 2.17.7 (February 27, 2017)
Android: 2.17.79 (February 26, 2017)
WhatsApp Messenger is a freeware, cross-platform and end-to-end encrypted instant messaging application for smartphones. It uses the Internet to make voice calls, one to one video calls; send text messages, images, GIF, videos, documents, user location, audio files, phone contacts and voice notes to other users using standard cellular mobile numbers. It also incorporates a feature called Status, which allows users to upload photos and videos to a 24-hours-lifetime feed that, by default, are visible to all contacts; similar to Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram Stories.
WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion. By February 2016, WhatsApp had a user base of over one billion, making it the most popular messaging application at the time.
WhatsApp, was incorporated in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both former employees of Yahoo!. After Koum and Acton left Yahoo! in September 2007, the duo traveled to South America as a break from work. At one point they applied for jobs at Facebook but were rejected. For the rest of the following years Koum relied on his $400,000 savings from Yahoo!. In January 2009, after purchasing an iPhone and realizing that the App Store would soon create an industry of apps, Koum started visiting his friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose where the three would discuss "... having statuses next to individual names of the people", but this was not possible without an iPhone developer. Fishman found a Russian developer on RentACoder.com, Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum. Koum named the app "WhatsApp" to sound like "what's up". On February 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California. However, because early versions of WhatsApp often crashed or got stuck at a particular point, Koum felt like giving up and looking for a new job, upon which Acton encouraged him to wait for a "few more months".
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Wikipedia