I'm always amazed how well they did it. Noone ever mentions they start charging you after a year. Yet most people realize this only after they already have a lot of friends they talk to via WhatsApp and can't easily migrate to something else.
Really? Oh, wait... http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/23014681
As an American who only heard of TenCent late in 2013, I also did not know that WhatsApp was a subscription service. Holy batman that feels either evil or genius.
Makes sense why the app asked for my cell phone digits when I first installed, and I'm happy I never gave it...
I definitely get more than 69p of value out of it per year
> Makes sense why the app asked for my cell phone digits when I first installed, and I'm happy I never gave it...
How does this have anything to do with the fee? The phone number is essentially your username. It automatically adds all the phone numbers in your address book as whatsapp contacts
edit: It's also not a subscription in that it never charges you automatically, you have to pay manually every time
Wow, that is a brilliant comment I can only agree with. I disliked Whatsapp for doing this (even though it's not even sneaky, nobody knows it), but yeah you are totally right. I am usually the first one to propose "I'd rather pay than see annoying ads."
"First year FREE! ($0.99 USD/year after)"[1]
The advantage of texting is that everyone is already capable of receiving your message and you don't need to subscribe to the same messaging services as the people you want to send messages to. This guaranteed interoperability is why texting (and e-mail and telephone calls) are not likely to become extinct any time soon.
Also, not all cellular plans charge extra for text messages. I've seen a lot of plans that come with unlimited texting bundled in.
[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whatsapp-messenger/id3106339...