WhatsApp founder is parting ways with Facebook

Over four years after agreeing to Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp, one of the co-founders of the popular messaging service has announced he is parting ways with the social networking company.

Jan Koum made the announcement in a Facebook post earlier today.

As for the reason behind the decision, reports cite experts as saying there "was a massive culture clash." Basically, Koum was in complete disagreement with Facebook's "attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption."

Ironically, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on Koum's post saying he is thankful to Koum for teaching him about encryption:

Koum is also reportedly stepping down from Facebook’s board of directors. As you can see in his post, Koum didn't disclose his future plans, saying he is taking some time off to do other, non-technical stuff he likes.

This comes just over a month after the other WhatsApp founder Brian Acton declared it's time for users to leave Facebook.

Source | Via

WhatsApp beta for Android makes audio recording easier

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out a new beta on Android that includes a much requested feature, an option to record voice notes hands-free within the app.

After installing the update, when the user presses and holds on the mic button to record audio, another option appears on screen where they can swipe up to lock the recording. After doing that, the app will continue to record the voice note without you having to press and hold the mic button. You can still cancel the recording and delete the file without sending.

The update is out now on Android through the beta channel. No word yet on when it will reach Android stable and iOS.

Source • Via

WhatsApp introduces Business app

WhatsApp has launched a new WhatsApp Business app for small business owners to communicate with their customers. A lot of businesses already use WhatsApp and with this they can be more efficient and provide information better.

Businesses can download the new app and set up their account. Compared to the standard app, the Business app will allow additional information on the profile page, such as business description, email or store address, and website, which will help customers reach them. The Business app will also have messaging tools that will let users send quick replies to provide fast answers to frequently asked questions, greeting messages to introduce themselves to customers, and away messages when you are not available. Users will also be able to see simple message read statistics. The account will be marked as a Business account so customers can identify them and WhatsApp will also verify some accounts over time so customers know they have reached the official number.

WhatsApp Business is releasing today in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S., with other regions getting it later. The app is also available only on Android, which is understandable, but what is laughable is that the app isn't available in WhatsApp's two biggest markets, India and Brazil. By WhatsApp's own admissions, over 80% of small businesses in these markets use WhatsApp and it makes no sense not to launch the app there first.

You can download the app from the link below.

Source • Play Store

Xiaomi admits fault for WhatsApp obsolete bug, issues a fix

Last weekend Xiaomi users complained about a problem with WhatsApp. When opening the app, it read “This version became obsolete. Please go to the Google Play Store to download the latest version”, but when they did, it just said the application is up to date.

WhatsApp said it is a third-party issue and today Xiaomi acknowledged the fault and said a fix is coming.

According to a Xiaomi spokesperson, the company uploaded a beta version of WhatsApp’s APK on the Mi App Store. Since the Xiaomi service updates apps automatically by default, users got the beta and struggled with the obsolete issue.

Xiaomi apologized for the inconvenience and updated the App store listing with a newer version, approved by WhatsApp. Any users still having trouble should simply update the messenger. If the issue persists, a reinstall should fix it.