WhatsApp Download

Today we are going to talk about the latest release of WhatsApp that the developers have just made available for Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle users. This latest Beta version, which comes with number 2.16.57, weighs 5.7MB and, even though it doesn’t bring any new feature, comes with bug fixes and performance improvements. So it is certainly advisable to spend some time to install it on your Nokia device.

If you are wondering where you can find this latest 2.16.57 beta release of WhatsApp for Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle, it’s good to know that it is already available for download on the official WhatsApp website. As usual, it is not difficult to install the update on your device, you simply have to download the .sis file on your Nokia smartphone and then run it.

Unfortunately these old versions of Nokia smartphones don’t provide their users the new features that are available on other platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone. So, to give you an example, Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle users will not be able to use the much awaited video calling feature, just added on the other platforms. And everything let us think that these new options will never be added to Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle devices.

That’s because from January 2017 WhatsApp will stop supporting outdated models, and sadly Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle are included in this list. But it’s good to know that whilst for Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7, iPhone 3GS/ iOS 6 the support will stop by the end of 2016, the support for Nokia Symbian and Nokia Belle has been prolonged until the end of June 2017.

But what are the reasons behind this decision? A spokesperson of WhatsApp explained it using these words:  “While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they do not offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” and stating also that  “As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use,”.

So you still have a few months to enjoy the app on your Nokia smartphone, and in the meantime we are sure you will find another way to use WhatsApp.

The announcement was given earlier this year, and now it is important that all WhatsApp users check their smartphones since they risk to be too old to keep on supporting the app. In February WhatsApp has announced that by the end of 2016 outdated models will not be able to run anymore the service, because the company intends to focus on other newer mobile platforms.

In a blog post, the owners of the app explained that: “When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people’s use of mobile devices looked very different from today. The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft – which account for 99.5 percent of sales today – were on less than 25 percent of mobile devices sold at the time,”.

Apparently this was not an easy decision for the instant messaging service. According to a spokesperson of WhatsApp “While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they do not offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” adding that “As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use,”.

And we have certainly noticed that during the last few months WhatsApp has received several and major updates, and it seems that other important new features are coming, features that need new models of smartphones. So let’s recap which mobile platforms versions will definitely stop working by the end of December 2016:

• Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
• Windows Phone 7
• iPhone: 3GS/ iOS 6

Also Blackberry 10 running on BBOS and Nokia S40 running on Symbian S40 are part of this list, but the support has been extended until June 2017.

So remember to check on your device version before the year ends, otherwise you risk to have the service blocked. We are confident that this decision will unlikely affect the success of the app (which now have more than one billion monthly active users), also because the service will still be supported by most of the Android devices. Furthermore, it’s probable that the majority of WhatsApp users will be more than happy to upgrade their devices, and not just in order to use WhatsApp.

If you are addicted to WhatsApp, you certainly know that the developers of the app constantly roll out updated versions of our beloved app, and yet it never stops to amaze us to see that quite every day we can download another better version of WhatsApp. Android is the platform that usually receives first (and more often) the updates since it has the majority of users, but the other platforms are kept updated as well. That said, let’s see what’s new today.

A new APK version of WhatsApp is already available for Android users. This latest updated version is number 2.16.371 and weighs 31.8 MB. Even if it does not bring any new features, it comes with the usual performance improvements and bug fixes, so it is certainly advisable to download it. If you are disappointed because this new version does not bring new features, remember that recently the app has been updated a lot and now Android users of WhatsApp are allowed to make Voice and Video Calls, can send and receive animated GIFs, and a lot more.

And these are just some of the enhancements that have been done recently. Furthermore, according to some rumors another great feature will be added soon to the app: the Multiple Video Calling feature, which will make it possible to add two or more users in the same video chat. But, for the moment, these rumors have to be confirmed by the developers of WhatsApp.

Now let’s see how this latest 2.16.371 beta version of WhatsApp can be installed on your Android device. As usual, there are two ways. The first one is via the official Android Store, and it is applicable only if you are a Beta Tester of WhatsApp. If you are not yet a Beta Tester but wish to join the service, you simply have to open the Google Play Store webpage and tap on the “BECOME A TESTER” button.

Once you have followed this procedure you can open the official Android store, look for the update you are interested in and tap on the “Install” button. The other way to download this latest APK file of WhatsApp for Android is through some safe sources such as APKMirror.

During the last few months we could see the addition of several changes and improvements to WhatsApp. The Facebook-owned app, which now counts more than one billion active users spread all over the world, is available for free for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry platforms and allows its users to chat, share videos and photos, to make calls and, now, video calls.

And the latest version that has just been released for Windows Phone devices follows this course of improvements and updates. This latest 2.16.300 stable version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone adds some of the new features that have already been spotted in previous betas such as the new button that allows users to convert video to GIF, the new two step verification, the possibility to draw or add text and emojis to photos and storage information. These updates come along with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.

So, how can you install this latest 2.16.300 version of WhatsApp on your Windows Phone device? As we said above, this is a stable version of the app, so you can download it straight from the Windows Store. 

And that’s not all. According to some rumors the Multiple Video Calling feature will soon be added to the app, but the news has not yet been confirmed by the developers of WhatsApp. If the news is correct, thanks to this new feature two or more contact can be added in the video group chat, but, as we said, this is all to be confirmed. What’s true is that now the application offers much more to its users, with the result that the life of the other services is getting even more difficult.

Cyber criminals are obviously trying to take advantage from the success of WhatsApp, and we often have to warn users about new scams. The last one in chronological order, according to The Sun report, is a particularly dangerous one, and exploits the release of the video calling feature. The scam works through an email message asking you to activate the option by visiting a website. Obviously WhatsAppers have been warned not to click on this link since it allows cyber criminals to rob users.

To help its citizens, the Pakistani government has even issued this advice: “By clicking the web link received through such an invite, the user is led to a legitimate looking process actually carried through a spoofed website carrying a malicious code. The process at the end asks the users to invite more friends which inevitably leads to further spread of the hack. Keeping in mind the popularity of Whatsapp with the messaging users, it is important that the Pakistani users are aware of this scam so that they can take immediate measures to limit exposure to its data protection consequences.“

After the release of the much awaited video calling feature, other great news for WhatsApp users. Our beloved instant messaging app is in fact testing a new feature which will allow users to watch shared videos while they are being downloaded.

For the moment only Beta testers using Android devices are enabled to download this latest update, that has been spotted with the latest betas. However, there are signs that the new feature will soon  be available in stable versions of the app also on iOS.

How can you use this new, useful, feature? The procedure is very simple, and is similar to the one used by YouTube and other online sites. You certainly know that, so far, downloading videos with WhatsApp could take quite a long time if you used a slow data connection. But now, thanks tho this latest improvement of WhatsApp for Android devices, users have the ability to choose to view videos while they are downloading in the background.

It is not difficult to imagine that this new video streaming feature will be very enjoyed by the many users of WhatsApp (more than one billion all over the world!), since they often use the app to share videos in their chats. Now, let’s see how it works.

When one of your contacts sends you a video, you will see a play icon instead of the usual download button. When you tap on the play button, the video will start immediately streaming. As we said, for the moment, all of this works only if both you and the contact who is sending you the video are  Beta Testers. In case you are receiving a video from a regular WhatsApp contact, the usual Download Button will be displayed instead of the new Play button.

It is extremely easy to become a Beta Tester, you just have to sign up on Google Play. After you become a Beta Tester you will able to download WhatsApp beta updates.

Starting from this week WhatsApp will add encrypted video calling, that’s what Jan Koum said according to a Reuters report. This new service will further improve users’ privacy, and comes just after all the criticism addressed to WhatsApp because of the recent decision to share its users data with Facebook.

WhasApp, founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, was bought by Facebook in 2014. So far the two services have led an activity quite independent, at least until August, when WhatsApp updated its terms and conditions and decided to adopt a data sharing plan with Facebook.

Complaints arrived from users and governments, but the Facebook-owned company has reiterated in more than one occasion that nothing is changed, and that the company is still committed to users privacy. And the recent decision to add encrypted video calling seems to confirm WhatsApp statements. Jan Koum, co-founder of the instant messaging service, during a recent interview stated that video calls will be rolled out to 180 countries, saying that “We obviously try to be in tune with what our users want,”.

On the matter Koum also added that “We’re obsessed with making sure that voice and video work well even on low-end phones.” The decision to add encrypted video calling seems to be a natural consequence of the addition of end-to-end encryption to messages and chats, option that was introduced early this year, and is supported by general privacy concerns under the Trump administration.

The new American President, supported by FBI Director James Comey and by some leading congressional Republicans, thinks that tech companies should release their customer information under some circumstances. If this idea will be formally put into law, many services such as WhatsApp may be forced to completely change the design of their services. This scenario seems not to worry Jan Koum, who, on the contrary, stays optimistic, since he is convinced that “It would be like them shooting themselves in the foot.”

But WhatsApp is not the only service offering end-to-end encrypted video calls, since in August Google launched Duo, a new app that offers its users encrypted video calling.

WhatsApp’s decision to share with Facebook its users data, including phone numbers, has caused big troubles and criticism in Europe. And we mean not only between the many users of the app, but also with European governments.

The first country that decided to ban the data-sharing plan has been Germany, immediately followed by the UK, where Facebook may be forced to pay a fine of up to £500,000 if decides to reintroduce the scheme. But other privacy watchdogs across Europe are concerned about the data-sharing plan, and 28 European authorities signed an open letter addressed to Jan Koum, WhatsApp CEO, asking for a suspension of the data collection.

And now, the Financial Times reports that Facebook has decided to put a stop to the collection of data from WhatsApp users across Europe, and the news has been confirmed by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s Office (that is Facebook’s European regulatory body). Elizabeth Denham, UK’s information commissioner (ICO), recently stated “We’ve set out the law clearly to Facebook, and we’re pleased that they’ve agreed to pause using data from UK WhatsApp users for advertisements or product improvement purposes,“.

However, the victory of European privacy watchdogs could be a very short one, since Facebook affirms that the decision to suspend the data collection may be only temporary.  When in August WhatsApp announced the change in its terms and conditions, the service claimed that “None of the information you share on WhatsApp, from status updates to messages, will be shared onto Facebook for others to see.“. Following this announcement, and all the criticism, Facebook added that the intention of the plan was actually to reduce spam, by showing targeted ads on Facebook.

Recently, during the Wall Street Journal Tech Conference, Brian Acton and Jan Koum talked about these privacy issues, and stated that they remain committed to their users’ privacy. Koum pointed out that “We never asked our users for their names, for their genders, for their age or where they live, so it’s not like sitting on the wealth of information,”.

Brian Acton also added that the decision to update the terms of service was taken in order to take advantage of Facebook’s technology (in particular its spam-detection system), for the previous terms of service of WhatsApp were “somewhat woefully out of date,”.