Category Archives: NEWS

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,”.

Today we have great news for BlackBerry and Nokia users. The owners of our beloved instant messaging app have in fact decided to extend the support for BlackBerry 10 and Nokia platforms until June 2017.

This decision partially changes the one communicated at the beginning of the year, when WhatsApp has informed its users that by the end of 2016 certain operating systems, including Windows Phone 7.1 and Blackberry 10, will not be supported anymore. But this week the support page of the app has been updated  and BlackBerry and Nokia users have been informed that “We will soon be ending support for certain devices. On June 30, 2017, we will no longer support the following platforms: BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, and Nokia Symbian S60.”

If the news comes as a sort of relief for some users, for others the situation is unchanged, since the company has confirmed that the support for Android 2.1, Android 2.2 and Windows Phone 7 will be dropped by the end of 2016.

So, let’s recap for which platforms the support of WhatsApp has been prolonged:

• BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10
• Nokia S40
• Nokia Symbian S60

As we said above, unfortunately the following platforms will no longer be supported by WhatsApp starting from January 2017:

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

The Facebook-owned Company explained its decision with this words: “These platforms don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future. If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android running OS 2.3+, a Windows Phone 8+, or an iPhone running iOS 7+ before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.” and adding that at the moment it is not possible to transfer users’ chat histories between platforms:

“Once you have one of these devices, simply install WhatsApp and verify your phone number on the new device to continue using WhatsApp. Keep in mind that WhatsApp can only be activated with one phone number on one device at a time. There is currently no option to transfer your chat history between platforms. However, we provide the option to send your chat history attached to an email.”

Great news for those of you who use WhatsApp with an iPhone: you can now send GIFs. This popular option is very used on social media, and messaging services such as Facebook, Twitter and iMessage already support it. And now GIFs have finally been added to WhatsApp for iOS, for the joy of the many users of the app.

So, what do you have to do in order to send GIFs with your iPhone device? The first thing to do is to download this latest 2.16.15 version of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store (this passage is necessary because iOS operating system doesn’t natively support GIFs). Once you have installed this latest update, you will be enabled to send videos and photos as a GIF.

Now, let’s see how to send videos as animated GIF. The procedure is quite simple, you only have to select a video by tapping the Plus button which is located on the left of the text box. After that, you need to select Photo & Video Library and choose the video that you want to send (it is important though that you remember that the length of the video must be 6 seconds or shorter). Now from the top right of your screen you will be able to choose whether to send a video or a GIF.

As we said before, with this latest version of WhatsApp for iOS, users are also enabled to send live photos as animated GIFs, even if, for the moment, this option works only if you have an iPhone with 3D Touch. To send an animated GIF you have to go to the Photo/Video Library and choose “Select as GIF.”

Thanks to this latest update of WhatsApp for iOS, users will now be able to send GIFs they find on the internet. As it often happens with WhatsApp, the procedure is quite straightforward. Let’s see how it works. You have found a GIF on the internet and you want to send it to one of your contacts: you can simply do a “Copy” and “Paste” into the WhatsApp text field.

The ability to send and receive GIFs is already available in Beta version for Android users, but what about WhatsApp Web? WhatsApp Web is already able to read GIFs, but unfortunately it currently can’t send them.

European governments are giving a hard time to Facebook and WhatsApp after their recent decision to share WhatsApp users’ data. Germany has been the first country to ban the Data-Sharing Project of the two services and now the UK is officially following the same path.

It all started in September, when the information commissioner Elizabeth Denham asked for an investigation into the data-sharing. So, the UK’s National Data Protection Whatchdog, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has considered to take actions against Facebook and WhatsApp. Until now, when Facebook has officially agreed to put a stop to its plan to collect data about British WhatsApp users for the purposes of targeting adverts, but will continue to share data with WhatsApp to fight spam.

Elizabeth Denham is convinced that users don’t have a clear idea on what is going on, and stated that “I don’t think users have been given enough information about what Facebook plans to do with their information, and I don’t think WhatsApp has got valid consent from users to share the information,”. She also said that users should have total control over this new privacy policy option, and “not just a 30-day window”.

Facebook admits that many other European Data Protection authorities have asked for more information, but for the moment the company prefers to avoid to agree to specific resolutions with any one particular regulator. Recently Facebook said: “WhatsApp designed its privacy policy and terms update to give users a clear and simple explanation of how the service works, as well as choice over how their data is used. These updates comply with applicable law, and follow the latest guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. We hope to continue our detailed conversations with the ICO and other data protection officials, and we remain open to working collaboratively to address their questions.”

But, despite this sort of agreement, Elizabeth Denham is not completely satisfied and is convinced that the WhatsApp data-sharing case is just part of a bigger problem in the technology industry, and said that “Our digital comings and goings create rich portraits of our lives, and vague terms of service when we sign up aren’t giving us the protection we need,”.

Let’s see if other European countries will join Germany and the UK and will succeed in stopping the Facebook data-sharing program with WhatsApp.