Whatsapp is the proprietary, cross-platform messaging subscription service that can be used to communicate for (almost) for free. Apart from text messaging services, Whatsapp can be used for sending user’s location, audio, video messages and images. The California-based company was established in the year 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton. The popularity of Whatsapp has been growing right from its introduction. In February, 2014, Facebook Inc. made a deal of 19 billion USD for acquiring Whatsapp Inc.
Whatsapp can be used in Blackberry 10, Microsoft Windows Phone, Symbian, Nokia Asha platforms, Apple iOS, Blackberry OS, and Google Android. But as to Windows 8 Os, an “official” version for Microsoft OS has not been release yet. However, there are a couple of short-cuts to solve this problem. The typical solution is to install Bluestacks on your Pc, an Android emulator for Pc, that can virtually run any Android app, as explained here. But today, after months, even years, of waiting we finally got it: WhatsApp developers have released a version of the Web service , called “Whatsapp Web” that you can use directly from the browser of your Windows 8 Pc, without having to depend on strange third-party solutions.
The only drawback of this version of WhatsApp Web, is that it currently only works on Chrome, but otherwise it works wonders and requires no complicated setup. Try it now and you will not regret. To access WhatsApp online you must have first downloaded the latest version of the app on your smartphone. You can use an Android phone, a Windows Phone or BlackBerry. Currently the iPhone is not supported because of the restrictions of Apple’s mobile platform but, who knows, things could also change in the future.
So, just visit the website of WhatsApp Web from your computer using Chrome, and then scans the QR code that appears on the top left with your smartphone. If you do not know how to do it, open WhatsApp, press the button menu located in the upper left (the icon with three dots) and select the voice WhatsApp Web from the box that will appear.
What about installing and using Whatsapp works on a Windows Phone 8? Here some special tricks use Whatsapp at its best, on your Windows 8 Phone:
Setting the profile picture, name and status of the user: The name and profile picture will be visible to others with whom you will chat on Whatsapp. The status feature indicates of what a particular user is doing so that he/she can keep up with the time. For setting the name and profile photo you need to open Whatsapp. Then tap the 3 dots at the screen’s bottom right. From Settings go to the profile menu. For adding, deleting, or changing the profile photo tap the photo. For changing or adding your name you need to tap “Enter your name” text box. For setting the status you need to go to the status screen by tapping on chat bubble icon at the bottom right. To write your personal status, you need to tap text box.
Changing the user’s Whatsapp phone number: For changing the account phone number you need to tap the 3 dots at the screen’s bottom right. For changing the number, you need to go to “change my number” from the account option in settings. You should enter both the old and new numbers and tap on accept to continue.
Using the voice messaging service: You can easily communicate with a particular contact or make group chat with the help of voice messaging. This service allows you to deliver time-sensitive and important messages. You need to keep on holding the microphone icon for using the Voice Messaging service. After receiving a voice message you need to tap on the play button for listening to the message. The messages that have not been listened to will show a green microphone while those that have been listened will show a blue microphone.
Adding the contacts to Whatsapp: Whatsapp employs a quick and easy method of finding your friends. The phone numbers that exist in the address book are automatically read and added to Whatsapp. On a Windows Phone, the contacts having Whatsapp accounts will appear automatically in Favorites screen. When adding contacts living in foreign locations, the phone numbers should be added in international format. The full phone number should be preceded by the Country Code. Any leading zeros from a phone number should be omitted.
Blocking a contact: If you wish to stop receiving messages on Whatsapp from specific contacts you can block them. For blocking the contacts you need to tap “blocked contacts” from the settings option. To select the contacts you need to tap the “+”. For accepting the changes you need to tap check marks.
Some Tips and Technical Suggestions on using Whatsapp on Windows Phone
For the novice users of Whatsapp, here are some handy tips that will certainly be useful in getting started:
To view more facts you need to tap the name of a contact: Tapping the name of a contact will give you quick access to profiles. This will also give you more information about that particular contact and you can check out the media that has previously been transferred in conversations.
Sending location information to a recipient: If you are not aware of the location of a particular contact then it would be pain to meet up with individuals. The current location of a contact can be determined easily by sending the “location” as an attachment in a conversation.
Adding groups and broadcasts: Whatsapp provides an easy way to help people communicate with groups of colleagues, friends, and family. Whatsapp also allows adding group subject and photo which makes it even more fun to chat in a group. The broadcast feature helps the users to send a single Whatsapp message to several contacts at the same time.