Like Oscar Wilde once said, everything popular is wrong. Quality is well down in the list of things that matter to have a successful product.
WhatsApp is broken, really broken
51–60 of 137 posts
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#52OT, but I'm intrigued by their business model. I don't know the history, but currently, the Android app is free, and it says the use of the service is free for the first year, then will be $0.99 per year after that. Meanwhile, the iOS app is $0.99 straight up. Thoughts: (a) "Free for a year, $1/year after that" seems like an awful long time to wait for a payday, but if it works, and you get lots of free users, I bet…
Even more OT, but Angry Birds is $0.99 on iOS and free (with ads) on Android to this day: https://www.google.com/search?&q=angry+birds+android+OR+...
Just the nature of the different app ecosystems, really.
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#53So, what's the best alternative?
KakaoTalk, I switched to this from WhatsApp over a year ago.
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#54I've been seriously considering creating a highly secure text messaging replacement. I'm aware of TextSecure but find it lacking (and only available on Android). I'd love to hear if you guys think it would be a worthwhile project.
What is the target market? I mentally treat all messages as insecure, and no self-proclaimed secure system would change my thoughts.
That's actually why I haven't built it yet. I think it should be done, but I'm not sure who would actually care enough to use it.
What would change your thoughts regarding a secure messaging system? Open source?
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#55I've been seriously considering creating a highly secure text messaging replacement. I'm aware of TextSecure but find it lacking (and only available on Android). I'd love to hear if you guys think it would be a worthwhile project.
Maybe you want to try Musubi, an experimental message app from Stanford's MobiSocial lab which really cares about user's privacy. It's available for Android and iOS
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it comes down to it being harder to make money on the android store and ease of piracy vs ios store. The market share / profit tradeoff ratio on android makes it worth more to be free. On iOS they sometimes make the app free too.
Tell me more. I wasn't aware app piracy was a major problem in either store.
Not in store - Android allows app installs from outside of the store.
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it comes down to it being harder to make money on the android store and ease of piracy vs ios store. The market share / profit tradeoff ratio on android makes it worth more to be free. On iOS they sometimes make the app free too.
Tell me more. I wasn't aware app piracy was a major problem in either store.
App piracy is actually a substantial issue on both stores:
On Android, sideloading of apps from unauthorized sources (not the store), and frail DRM makes piracy really easy. The US government has been targeting these sources[1], but as you can imagine, there are many. Some have said that Android app piracy may be up to 60%[2], but I think there's some sample bias in these figures and suspect it's a fair bit lower.
On iOS, piracy is a bit more difficult, requiring a jailbreak and then a hack that allows cracked apps. From there, cracked apps can be downloaded from various sources. There are fewer solutions to crack in-app purchases, but recently a few have come into the mainstream[3]. On the whole, Apple's DRM helps, but pirates have found ways around it.
[1] http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/22/3259808/android-app-pirate... [2] http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/7/3225154/dead-trigger-dev-in... [3] http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/13/3156875/ios-free-in-app-pu...
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like WhatsApp, Viber is free to use and has no advertising model. If they are not making money off me directly i have to wonder how safe my data actually is with this service.
WhatsApp is not free to use. iOS users are charged a flat 99c fee while Android users are charged 1$ a year from the second year onwards. I do not know how secure Viber is but they have been steadilu acquiring good user base. If I was Viber, I would cash on this opportunity to write a blog or advertise their security models.
The whole charge after one year model on other platforms is incorrect. Iv never met anyone except for IOS people that was charged by whatsapp after 365 days have elapsed.
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#59No mention of this on their blog (in fact, no new posts since July). And no quick patch that pops up a box asking the user to assign a password. Since it's tied to a phone number/SIM card anyway, you could easily offer a password retrieval option via SMS. I wonder what happens if a phone number (the login) is tied to a different IMEI (the password). This can happen when you transfer a phone number from one provider t…
> I wonder what happens if a phone number (the login) is tied to a different IMEI
I think they send verification code to the phone via SMS or ask your permission to make a call and speak the verification code.
Re: WhatsApp is broken, really broken
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like WhatsApp, Viber is free to use and has no advertising model. If they are not making money off me directly i have to wonder how safe my data actually is with this service.
WhatsApp is not free to use. iOS users are charged a flat 99c fee while Android users are charged 1$ a year from the second year onwards. I do not know how secure Viber is but they have been steadilu acquiring good user base. If I was Viber, I would cash on this opportunity to write a blog or advertise their security models.
I' ve been using WhatsApp well over a year on Android. I got a free renewal in june. Never paid a cent.