WhatsApp

WhatsApp Messenger, known simply as WhatsApp, is an American service for talking and sharing with friends and family. You can use it on your phone or computer to send text messages, voice messages, and videos. You can also make voice and video calls, and share pictures, documents, and your location. To use WhatsApp, you need a mobile phone number.

WhatsApp started in May 2009 and was created by a company in Mountain View, California. In 2014, it was bought by Facebook. By 2015, it became the most popular messaging app in the world. By February 2020, it had more than 2 billion users around the globe.

As of May 2025, WhatsApp had 3 billion monthly active users, making it the most used messenger app. In January 2018, WhatsApp launched a special app called WhatsApp Business for companies to talk with customers. Today, WhatsApp is the main way people talk online in many places, including the Americas, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, and Africa.

History

2009–2014

WhatsApp was created by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, who used to work at Yahoo. They started WhatsApp in California on February 24, 2009. At first, they wanted to make an app that would show if someone was at work or on a call.

The app was first shared on the Apple App Store and BlackBerry App World in 2009. Early versions sometimes stopped working, but they kept improving it. In 2009, they added a way for users to send photos. By 2011, WhatsApp was one of the top apps in the U.S. store. In 2011, Sequoia Capital invested about $8 million in WhatsApp. By February 2013, WhatsApp had about 200 million users. By December 2013, it had 400 million users.

2014–2015

On February 19, 2014, Facebook agreed to buy WhatsApp for US$19 billion, which was the biggest purchase Facebook had made up to that point. At the time, WhatsApp had more than 600 million users. By early 2015, WhatsApp had 700 million users and more than 30 billion messages were sent every day. By April 2015, WhatsApp had over 800 million users. By September 2015, it had grown to 900 million users, and by February 2016, one billion.

2016–2019

In January 2016, WhatsApp stopped charging a yearly fee and promised not to show ads from other companies. In January 2018, WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business for small companies. In November 2019, WhatsApp announced it would give $250,000 to help 500 startups.

Since 2020

In March 2020, WhatsApp worked with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to share information about the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, WhatsApp planned to change its privacy rules, which caused many users to switch to other apps, but WhatsApp decided to wait before making the change.

In May 2022, WhatsApp started a service for bigger businesses. In August 2022, WhatsApp added a shopping service for users in India. In March 2024, WhatsApp said users could send messages to other chat apps in Europe. In January 2026, WhatsApp was ranked third in a list of the best brands. In March 2026, Meta said other AI companies could use WhatsApp for a year. In April 2026, WhatsApp began testing a paid version called WhatsApp Plus with extra features.

Features

WhatsApp is a messaging app that lets people chat, send voice messages, and make calls. It works on phones and computers. You can send pictures, videos, and documents, and even share your location.

Over the years, WhatsApp added many helpful features. You can hide when you're online, mute chats so you don't get bothered, and edit messages if you make a mistake. You can also send voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share files up to 2 GB. There are fun stickers and avatars to use, and you can create groups and communities to chat with many friends at once. The app also has safety features, like two-step verification and the ability for parents to manage their children's accounts.

Platform support

WhatsApp works on many devices, mainly phones like Android phones and iPhones. To use it, you need at least Android version 5.0 or iOS version 15.1.

You can also use WhatsApp on other devices, called linked devices, which connect to your main phone. Up to four linked devices can be connected at once. These can include computers, smartwatches, and even other phones. You can use WhatsApp on these devices even if your main phone is not connected to the internet.

WhatsApp can be used on computers through a web version called WhatsApp Web, which you access by scanning a code with your phone. There are also apps for Windows and Mac computers. WhatsApp also works on iPads and smartwatches like the Apple Watch.

Technical

WhatsApp uses a special messaging system called Extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP). When you install WhatsApp, it creates an account using your phone number.

WhatsApp can find your contacts by checking phone numbers in your address book. It now uses random codes for security. You can start a chat with anyone by using a special web address.

In 2015, WhatsApp added voice calls. In 2016, it added video calls for Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone users. In 2017, it let users delete messages they sent by mistake.

In 2014, WhatsApp added a special security called end-to-end encryption, which keeps messages private. By 2016, all messages and calls were protected this way. In 2021, WhatsApp added encryption for backups.

WhatsApp also has a money transfer feature called WhatsApp Pay, available in India, Brazil, and Singapore for business use.

Controversies and criticism

Misinformation

WhatsApp put limits on how people could forward messages to help stop false information in places like India and Australia. These limits were added in 2018 to fight spam and were still in use in 2021. WhatsApp says these changes helped reduce the spread of false news, including stories about COVID-19.

Murders in India

In India, WhatsApp asked people to report messages that were fake or could cause violence after some people were hurt by messages that wrongly said others planned to take children. This happened between 2017 and 2020, and after that, WhatsApp made changes so that messages that are shared many times are marked as "forwarded."

2018 elections in Brazil

During the 2018 elections in Brazil, WhatsApp was used to spread fake news. It was reported that a lot of money was spent in secret to spread these false stories. Researchers and journalists asked WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook, to make changes to stop the spread of fake news, similar to what was done in India.

Security and privacy

WhatsApp was first criticized because it didn’t hide messages properly. It started using a better way to hide messages in May 2012, but full protection was only added in April 2016 after two years of work. As of September 2021, WhatsApp uses outside helpers and smart systems to check some messages, images, and videos that users mark as suspicious. It also shares some account and location information with law enforcement.

In 2016, WhatsApp was praised for adding full protection and got a high score from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, it was criticized because the way it saved messages could still let others see them.

In May 2019, a problem was found where someone could put harmful software on a phone just by making a call that didn’t need to be answered.

In September 2019, WhatsApp was criticized for a feature that let people delete messages for everyone, but it didn’t delete images that were already saved in someone’s phone.

In November 2019, WhatsApp added a new privacy feature that let people choose who can add them to groups.

In December 2019, WhatsApp fixed a problem where hackers could use a special image to get access to someone’s phone.

On December 17, 2019, WhatsApp fixed a problem where attackers could make the app stop working for everyone in a group chat until they deleted and reinstalled the app.

Since February 1, 2020, WhatsApp has not worked on old phones that are no longer updated by their makers.

In April 2020, a company said that WhatsApp’s way of protecting users could affect important government matters, but it didn’t name the users.

On December 16, 2020, there was a claim that WhatsApp let Google see private messages, but the case was secret so it wasn’t clear what really happened.

In January 2021, WhatsApp said it would start sharing some user information with Facebook and its companies. Before, users could choose not to share, but now they couldn’t. This new rule didn’t apply in the European Union because it’s against the law there. Facebook and WhatsApp were criticized for this change. WhatsApp said it would not make the app stop working for people who didn’t agree, but it later said it would delay making the change.

On October 15, 2021, WhatsApp said it would add protection for saved chat messages, so no one else could see them, not even WhatsApp or the company storing them.

On November 29, 2021, documents showed that WhatsApp gave information to law enforcement when asked, including who a person talked to and when.

In January 2022, it was reported that a company tried to break WhatsApp’s protection to get user data, but this was fixed in January 2021.

In September 2022, a problem was found in the video call feature on Android phones where someone could take control of another person’s app during a call. This was fixed when it was reported.

In 2025, WhatsApp told some journalists and others that they might have been targeted by harmful software made by a company called Paragon Solutions. In April 2025, researchers found a way to get phone numbers of 3.5 billion users by making many requests quickly, but this was fixed in October and the researchers deleted their copy of the numbers.

UK institutions

As of 2023, WhatsApp is used a lot by government offices in the UK, but this is seen as a problem because it makes it hard for the public, including reporters, to get government records when they ask for them.

The person in charge of protecting information has said that using WhatsApp can be risky because some people in government might use it to avoid being watched, even though there are official ways to send messages. Groups that want more transparency have taken this issue to court.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government often used WhatsApp to make decisions, including on personal phones instead of government ones. When the official inquiry into the pandemic started looking for evidence in May 2023, this caused problems because not all messages could be found. A personal phone of the former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had been harmed by a security problem, and it couldn’t be turned on to get messages. Also, the Cabinet Office said it only needed to give some messages that it thought were important. The High Court said that all documents asked for must be given without hiding anything.

In 2018, it was reported that around 500,000 workers in the National Health Service used WhatsApp and other messaging apps at work, and about 29,000 were told to stop because it’s against the rules. Many frontline workers said they used it to keep up with patient care, even though it’s not allowed.

Mods and fake versions

In March 2019, WhatsApp told users who had changed the app not to use it and said it might stop working for them.

WhatsApp snooping scandal

In May 2019, hackers used a bad way to get harmful software on some phones using WhatsApp. This was made by a company called NSO Group. The attack could put software on a phone just by calling it, even if the call wasn’t answered.

In October 2019, WhatsApp sued NSO Group in a court in the United States, saying the attack broke laws. WhatsApp said the attack targeted at least 100 defenders of people’s rights, reporters, and others among 1,400 users in 20 countries.

In April 2020, NSO Group said that lawsuits against it could hurt its customers’ important matters, but it didn’t name the customers. Research showed these customers included Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.

In July 2020, a US judge said the lawsuit against NSO Group could continue. NSO Group tried to stop the lawsuit, but the judge didn’t agree.

Jeff Bezos phone hack

In January 2020, it was found that the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, got a hidden message on WhatsApp from the official account of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This message had a bad file that hurt Bezos’ phone. Later, it was confirmed that Bezos’ phone was hurt through WhatsApp because he was on a list of people Saudi Arabia wanted to watch.

FBI

In 2021, documents showed that WhatsApp and another app might be used by law enforcement to look at information in real time.

Tek Fog

In January 2022, a report said that an Indian political group used an app called Tek Fog to try to take over inactive WhatsApp accounts to send many messages with their ideas. But later, it was found that the people who said this were misled by wrong information. The group that said this fired someone and said sorry to its readers.

Terrorism

In December 2015, it was reported that a group called ISIS used WhatsApp to plan attacks, including the November 2015 Paris attacks. It was also said that ISIS used WhatsApp to move people for bad purposes.

In March 2017, the person who did the 2017 Westminster attack used WhatsApp just before the attack. The person in charge of safety in Britain said that tools like WhatsApp should not be able to hide messages and asked for police to be able to see them.

In April 2017, the person who did the Stockholm truck attack used WhatsApp to talk to someone connected to ISIS just before and after the attack. They talked about how to make a bomb and admitted to the attack.

In April 2017, about 300 WhatsApp groups with about 250 members each were used to organize people to throw things at police during fights in Jammu and Kashmir. Police said about 90% of these groups were closed after they asked the people who run them. After looking into 79 groups for six months, the National Investigation Agency reported that about 1,000 of the 6,386 members and group leaders were from Pakistan and gulf nations. The people doing this were said to get help from Pakistan and others.

In May 2022, the FBI said that someone who planned to hurt George W. Bush was caught because of information from his WhatsApp account.

Scams and malware

There are many tricks on WhatsApp where hackers try to spread viruses or harmful software. In May 2016, some users were tricked into getting a fake app called WhatsApp Gold, which put harmful software on their phones. A message that said it would let people see their friends’ messages or contact lists became popular in Brazil. Clicking it actually sent messages that cost money. Since December 2016, more than 1.5 million people clicked and lost money.

Another app called GB WhatsApp is said to be bad by a cybersecurity company called Symantec because it does things on phones without permission.

Bans

China

WhatsApp is owned by Meta, whose main service Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009. In September 2017, reports said that WhatsApp was completely blocked in China. On April 19, 2024, Apple took WhatsApp from the App Store in China because of government orders about national security.

Iran

On May 9, 2014, the government of Iran said it would block WhatsApp. The person in charge said it was because WhatsApp was owned by an American. But later, the president said to let people use it again. It was blocked again in September 2022 but let people use it again in December 2024.

Turkey

Turkey stopped WhatsApp for a short time in 2016, after the killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.

Brazil

On March 1, 2016, the vice-president of Facebook for Latin America was arrested in Brazil for not helping with an investigation that needed WhatsApp messages. The next day, he was let go because the court said the arrest was too much.

On May 2, 2016, mobile companies in Brazil were told to stop WhatsApp for 72 hours because it didn’t help with court orders twice. But after less than 24 hours, it was allowed again.

Brazil’s Central Bank told companies like Visa and Mastercard to stop working with WhatsApp on its new payment system on June 23, 2020. The Bank said this was to keep a good competition for mobile payments and to make sure payments are safe, quick, clear, open, and cheap.

Uganda

The government of Uganda stopped WhatsApp and Facebook, along with other social media, to make people pay a tax for using social media. People have to pay 200 Ugandan shillings each day to use these services.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The United Arab Emirates stopped WhatsApp video chat and voice calls as early as 2013 to protect their own phone companies (du and Etisalat). Their app ToTok was said to possibly watch users.

Cuba

In July 2021, the Cuban government stopped several social media sites, including WhatsApp, to stop information during protests against the government.

Switzerland

In December 2021, the Swiss army stopped using WhatsApp and other non-Swiss secret chat services. This was because of worries that US authorities might see the information. The army told everyone to use Threema instead, because it is based in Switzerland.

Zambia

In August 2021, a group called Access Now said that WhatsApp and other social media were stopped in Zambia during the general election. The group saw that there was much less use of these services, but the government didn’t say anything about it.

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) told banks in the country not to use apps like WhatsApp for talking to customers. This was to keep customer information safe.

Russia

In Russia, leaders put more pressure on WhatsApp in late 2025. On November 28, 2025, they said they might stop it completely. On February 11, 2026, the Russian government fully stopped WhatsApp, which had at least 100 million users there before. They said it was because WhatsApp didn’t follow Russian laws about extreme messages and government watching. The BBC said this happened because Meta didn’t agree with Russian laws. Meta could start working again if it follows the law and talks to them.

Third-party clients

In mid-2013, WhatsApp asked to remove a discussion on the XDA Developers forum about a popular changed version of WhatsApp called "WhatsApp Plus".

In 2015, some changed versions of WhatsApp that copied the real app were told to stop because they broke WhatsApp’s rules. Because of this, users of these changed versions were also not allowed to use WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Business

In January 2018, WhatsApp made two apps for businesses. One is called the WhatsApp Business app, for small companies. The other is the WhatsApp Business Platform, for bigger companies like airlines, online shops, and banks. These big companies can use WhatsApp to talk with customers, either with real people or using computer programs called chatbots.

At first, this service could only be used on company servers. But in 2022, WhatsApp added a way to use it through the internet. The old way will stop working on October 23, 2025. Companies need to use approved partners like respond.io, Gupshup, Trengo, Wati, and Manychat.

In October 2020, Facebook began charging for some of these services, based on how many chats happened. Later, on July 1, 2025, the price changed to charge for each message. In May 2026, WhatsApp added new tools to help small businesses in India talk to customers, plan ads, and offer support more easily using the WhatsApp Business app.

User statistics

WhatsApp became very popular quickly. In 2012, it handled ten billion messages each day. By 2014, over 500 million people used WhatsApp each month.

By 2017, WhatsApp had over 1.2 billion users around the world, growing to 1.5 billion by the end of that year. In 2025, Meta reported that WhatsApp had over 3 billion monthly active users globally.

Specific markets

India has the most WhatsApp users, with over 200 million people using it monthly. In Israel, nearly every smartphone user had WhatsApp by 2013. In 2024, WhatsApp reached 100 million users in the United States.

Competition

WhatsApp competes with other messaging services like iMessage, WeChat, Telegram, Viber, LINE, KakaoTalk, and Signal. Sometimes, when WhatsApp has problems, people switch to these other services for a little while. WhatsApp has also added new features inspired by its competitors.