Looks like US govt is going to pay for passing them all logs :stuck_out_tongue:
Slash
18 Jan 1618#1
its 69p per year on android. I bulk paid until 2020. Are they going to refund me?
Latest comments (98)
hy507
1 Feb 16#97
what is whatsapp
soldierboy001 to hy507
1 Feb 16#98
Google it to find out.
Brydo666
28 Jan 16#96
I've also used for years and not paid a penny, but happily would its a great service.
ThunderBolt
24 Jan 16#93
If they're flogging contacts to big firms there's little doubt they'll be flogging it to Justin and Harold from Nigeria... I fear more spam calls will follow.
Heat added for the freebie, but not sure I want to add my new details to it til I know more!
soldierboy001 to ThunderBolt
24 Jan 16#95
Yes of course, that's obvious.
Myro117
24 Jan 16#94
uninstalled Whatsapp when they starting to bother me about paying for it.
Not happening.Glad they've gone back to free
kcspurs
18 Jan 161#8
I have never paid either
tony93 to kcspurs
24 Jan 16#92
now theirs a shock yiddo never paid
dingdong
21 Jan 16#89
Knew they would do this at some point so never paid for it and used alternative methods to get extension, like using new number and switching it back to old lol
soldierboy001 to dingdong
21 Jan 16#90
Always one feather plucker shows up on each deal.
Stendhal to dingdong
22 Jan 16#91
It was 69p mate. That's less than most chocolate bars these days.
From what I read when Whatsapp announced this, they're changing their business model to bring in revenue. They're not going to do it via ads, but it sounded like businesses will be able to send messages to us directly by way of advertising.
Mr cool
20 Jan 16#88
Good post!
randomjack
20 Jan 16#87
I have had this on both iPhone and Android and never paid. Didn't even realise there was a fee
ephadrine
20 Jan 16#86
I paid for 5 years it cost 2.80 or something i can't complain worth every penny.
soldierboy001
20 Jan 16#85
Although I.ve never paid I got one of those messages last night to say I now have it for life, but have not had one taking it away. How weird is all this?
Qrunch
18 Jan 161#44
Don't want to split hairs but you * definitely* don't mean sybian!
JDPower to Qrunch
20 Jan 16#84
Though that would also split hairs :wink::laughing:
radiocaf
19 Jan 16#83
Okay so after having been given lifetime service, then having it taken away, I've just been given it again. Wonder if this is for good now? Lol
Siddy
19 Jan 16#82
I got my extension till mid June sometime.
radiocaf
19 Jan 16#81
Same here, except mine expires 13th June... :/
pjazzy
19 Jan 161#80
Cool. I've moved to Telegram, a really nice messaging platform
kinkladze
19 Jan 16#79
Great app. always had it on my android phones, never paid, always got free extensions at end of free period.
Oobie
19 Jan 16#78
Double Snap
millie79
19 Jan 16#77
Had a message this evening saying I was now a lifetime member but then about 10 mins later that was removed & it had all the prices.
matwalaboy
19 Jan 16#76
I have been using it for a while and never had to pay - but good that no one has to pay now :smiley:
sploits
19 Jan 161#74
Well half an hour ago I got a push message from WhatsApp saying my service was now 'lifetime'
Then a few minutes ago I get another push message from WhatsApp saying 'sorry, we got it wrong and your service date ends 08th May'!!
si36912 to sploits
19 Jan 16#75
Snap!
Bigfootpete
19 Jan 16#73
I never paid, they blocked me for a week a few times but I always got my access back.
DarkflameX
19 Jan 16#72
I can't see how it is the phones when i can make a phone call on the same phone to the same person crystal clear, they just heavily compress the data stream to save on bandwidth.
abulkasam
19 Jan 16#71
the answer to how they make money is in a change in their business model to allow companies access and charge them for this access to it's 1 billion customer base. Not sure how that works without advertising.
juliettcronk
19 Jan 16#70
never said you had to pay when i downloaded last year?
soldierboy001
19 Jan 16#69
I have never had a problem with the sound quality on What's App and maybe if you do could I suggest it is probably the quality of your phone. I know that on these threads that some people have sound quality issues on various supposedly good phones.
I would but no one else uses it. Which defeats the purpose. Installed it when it was new, then realised i don't know any one else who's using it and don't feel like marketing it to friends. I'm no fan of Skype either but since it's the most popular... it's still the one to use despite security flaws.
soldierboy001 to alpha_juliet
19 Jan 16#58
But you can't make calls on Telegram. I also have never paid for What's App on Android.
DarkflameX to alpha_juliet
19 Jan 16#68
Agreed, been using Telegram on both desktop and phone for nearly a year now, it's amazing, the only thing WhatApp has over it is VOIP calls (which are bad sound quality anyway).
Draak
19 Jan 16#63
If anyone likes to be spied on this is a great deal. Whatsapp belongs to Facebook, get Telegram instead.
nigelbutler to Draak
19 Jan 16#66
Bore off!!!
soldierboy001 to Draak
19 Jan 16#67
Obviously a telegram boy do you have a red BSA Bantam?
atiyyahnavab
19 Jan 16#65
thanks
yepImHere
19 Jan 16#64
are we seriously debating 70p or £1 ....If its free, great, if they make u pay a few pennies, who cares. either way we all use it. main thing is free pics n vids as networks rip you off. simple
alpha_juliet
19 Jan 16#62
secure, end to end encryption
bluecityste
19 Jan 16#48
Had to pay every time I changed phone, which is 3 times in last 18 months but always had same email, google play account and mobile number.
Good job it was only around 80p per time!!
soldierboy001 to bluecityste
19 Jan 16#61
In the last 2+ years I have changed to 3 additional phones from my original which I used to join What's App and have never had to pay or re-join it has always come with me, as part of my google account I assume, but I may be wrong.
Also in that time I have changed service provider 3 times for Spanish Provider and twice for UK provider on my dual sim phones and still have never paid, but I would have been only too happy to pay if I had to as the service is better than Skype and easier to use as it auto connects to my phone book all my contacts on What's App, that with the email length messages make it a no brainer for me and my contacts. Only surprised that more people don't use it. If they had an accounting system like Skype so we could call land lines this would be the perfect system for me.
westernise
18 Jan 16#45
Viber is better!
soldierboy001 to westernise
19 Jan 16#60
Not if your friends and contacts do not have Viber.
radiocaf
19 Jan 16#59
Never paid once on android. They would keep asking until two weeks before my subscription expired, then would always say I've been comped a year free, and please consider paying in future.
benjammin316
19 Jan 16#57
wtf. I have never paid, nor been asked to pay for whatsapp :confused:
abulkasam
19 Jan 16#54
How do they make any money?
No advertising?
Free app?
A billion users?
What do they sell to other businesses?
I'm guessing data and data analytics - which is just crazy talk.
So, if it is that, we pay for it via a service, our own behaviour!
its 69p per year on android. I bulk paid until 2020. Are they going to refund me?
tony93 to Slash
18 Jan 1651#2
lol
robdevil to Slash
18 Jan 16#30
Bulk paid?! Hahaha LMAO
chirper to Slash
19 Jan 16#55
lol
Khairul
19 Jan 16#53
mart1976
19 Jan 16#52
Never paid for it. I seen things saying you get charged but never actually got charged for it
graham221
19 Jan 16#50
used for years never once paid?
oricle1983
19 Jan 16#49
I don't think I have ever ever paid. I got it like 5 years ago or something on applw
chuckley
18 Jan 162#41
it always was free. they auto renewed everytime it 'expired'.
I'm amazed anyone was stupid enough to pay for it.
K0YS to chuckley
18 Jan 16#43
I had to pay. when mine expired I actually lost connection to the servers etc.
theboss4 to chuckley
18 Jan 16#46
Hardly going to break the bank is it! 69p. And it's a great service, bargain. I am not stupid.
nbuuifx
18 Jan 16#42
I never had to pay, I got the first year free, then each time it ran out, I just got a message saying that they had extended it for another 3 months for free, had 3 or 4 of those messages.
adamkhan
18 Jan 16#40
I never paid for it, since it first was available. Whenever they said "expired" I'd un-install the app, wait for a few days, and re-install. This way, they'd reset my free period for x amount of months. Now that it's going to be free makes no difference to me.
Slash
18 Jan 16#13
iphone didn't have to pay. But Android has to I think. I paid for a few years so my lost.
orig to Slash
18 Jan 16#19
never paid for it on android, 4 different phones
amour3k to Slash
18 Jan 16#33
Your mixing it up a little?, lol.
Android used to be ALWAYS FREE!.
Sybian stated a FEE of 69p, but was never implemented.
iOS had a then 'One-Off' FEE of 69p.
I think Windows Phone users from back in the day had to PAY the 69p too?, though I'm not 100% sure?.
Then EVERYONE had to pay soon after regardless ..... :-(
About time this became FREE again, huh?, lol. :-)
Coreydeals to Slash
18 Jan 16#39
They both used to charge years ago. I think it was before Facebook purchased them and then it seemed to be yearly charged. Gladly I got it back then, and have lifetime. Good to see it is free for all, finally.
Elevation
18 Jan 16#38
Several sites etc that have ads now start out stating that. Then "market conditions change" and "we're sorry buuuuut...." :smirk:
K0YS
18 Jan 16#37
to add to that, IOS used to have a lot of free promos for whatsapp. its when I first got it and most of my contacts got it during the free promos. those initial users had free for life.
I lost my free membership because I changed numbers during their subscription service launch. unfortunately, there was no way to carry your subscription over to a new number back then.
K0YS
18 Jan 16#36
damn, its the only thing I used to spent my google credit on. what will I spend all that free money on now lol
dtc333
18 Jan 16#35
I use WhatsApp regularly, it suits my needs and I would be happy to pay, say £1 a year if it remained the same as it is now.,
orochiguyver
18 Jan 164#34
Telegram may be 'better' ( I havent used it yet), but at the end of the day, when you want to message your friends and theyre all already on WhatsApp, its a tall order to get them all to switch and also, like me, most dont like having several apps that all do the same thing but separately. Already have Hangouts, FB Messenger and whatsapp really dont need another.
humadoon
18 Jan 16#32
thats dangerous move, free is never free, I have serious reservations I guess time to say good bye
h41d3r96
18 Jan 16#29
This is great but how do they actually make money or cover the costs of staff and servers?
robdevil to h41d3r96
18 Jan 16#31
Facebook pay them!
R37R0
18 Jan 16#28
Interesting development... I daresay people should start thinking about the content of their conversations on whatapp from now on...
Oh that's fine then. I've never known corporate entities to go back on their word. Altruistic entities driven solely by principles and goodness to society.
moneyballs2
18 Jan 162#25
Lots of people saying they didn't pay for xyz reason. For clarity, and as I understand it, this is because:
1) Early adopters were given lifetime free membership for being users before the app went mainstream
2) Your first year is free
I hope they don't change it. It does everything I want it to do. There is nothing more I want it to do (except maybe video calling).
Mine was designated as free for life, but I'd happily start paying if it meant not having yet another part of my life commercialised.
"Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organisations that you want to hear from."
So rather than third party ads they are probably looking at ways to get businesses to pay for services and communication channels it will provide them with.
Quite a clever move really - most people found a way round the annual charge anyway, and the move might reduce any chance of customers ebbing away onto arguably technically better alternatives (such as Telegram, mentioned above).
spencer24
18 Jan 1616#6
Think you will find that third party ads will creep in this is a bad move. I would rather pay and have it ad Free
MarioMan to spencer24
18 Jan 16#18
On their blog, they said the would NOT put in ads :smiley:
faster4233
18 Jan 162#17
hmm They better not integrate into facebook and then tell us its free so stop complaining!!! I paid £2.50 for 5 years service and i damn well want them facebook free.
Siddy
18 Jan 16#16
I've never paid, Help I got a 'work from home' appear on mine this morning listing a load of mobile numbers took 3 goes to spam and delete it to stop it.
kingpete
18 Jan 161#14
Never paid for whatsapp and using it for free for more than 2 years on my iPhone
credington
18 Jan 161#12
It will turn in to a Facebook style app and will probably be diluted and bloated. It may eventually be incorporated in to Facebook and be got rid of eventually.
sazzopardi1971
18 Jan 16#11
I've never had to pay, and I have WhatsApp on my iPhone
krisward7955
18 Jan 161#10
When did the fee come in? I've never paid either
prk
18 Jan 1627#9
Looks like US govt is going to pay for passing them all logs :stuck_out_tongue:
westy125
18 Jan 165#7
Never paid, didn't even know they did charge
judavid89
18 Jan 16#5
I have a lifetime thing anyway but yay for people that had to pay
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Opening post
That charge is now being removed (over the course of a few week) so that everyone can enjoy WhatsApp and still no third party ads!
Top comments
Latest comments (98)
Heat added for the freebie, but not sure I want to add my new details to it til I know more!
Not happening.Glad they've gone back to free
From what I read when Whatsapp announced this, they're changing their business model to bring in revenue. They're not going to do it via ads, but it sounded like businesses will be able to send messages to us directly by way of advertising.
Then a few minutes ago I get another push message from WhatsApp saying 'sorry, we got it wrong and your service date ends 08th May'!!
Good job it was only around 80p per time!!
Also in that time I have changed service provider 3 times for Spanish Provider and twice for UK provider on my dual sim phones and still have never paid, but I would have been only too happy to pay if I had to as the service is better than Skype and easier to use as it auto connects to my phone book all my contacts on What's App, that with the email length messages make it a no brainer for me and my contacts. Only surprised that more people don't use it. If they had an accounting system like Skype so we could call land lines this would be the perfect system for me.
No advertising?
Free app?
A billion users?
What do they sell to other businesses?
I'm guessing data and data analytics - which is just crazy talk.
So, if it is that, we pay for it via a service, our own behaviour!
https://www.cia.gov/index.html
I'm amazed anyone was stupid enough to pay for it.
Android used to be ALWAYS FREE!.
Sybian stated a FEE of 69p, but was never implemented.
iOS had a then 'One-Off' FEE of 69p.
I think Windows Phone users from back in the day had to PAY the 69p too?, though I'm not 100% sure?.
Then EVERYONE had to pay soon after regardless ..... :-(
About time this became FREE again, huh?, lol. :-)
I lost my free membership because I changed numbers during their subscription service launch. unfortunately, there was no way to carry your subscription over to a new number back then.
1) Early adopters were given lifetime free membership for being users before the app went mainstream
2) Your first year is free
I hope they don't change it. It does everything I want it to do. There is nothing more I want it to do (except maybe video calling).
Mine was designated as free for life, but I'd happily start paying if it meant not having yet another part of my life commercialised.
Click here to find out
So rather than third party ads they are probably looking at ways to get businesses to pay for services and communication channels it will provide them with.
Quite a clever move really - most people found a way round the annual charge anyway, and the move might reduce any chance of customers ebbing away onto arguably technically better alternatives (such as Telegram, mentioned above).