WhatsApp will be free forever, the team has finally thought about removing the subscription fee.
[column size=one_half position=first ]WhatsApp is one of those services which charges you after your first year of using it, although I can’t say I know anyone that actually paid for it once. Starting in the coming weeks, nobody will be ever asked to pay for it again, the founder of WhatsApp: Jan Koum announced that the yearly fee for using WhatsApp will be removed “over the next several weeks”.[/column]
[column size=one_half position=first ][su_quote]We just don’t want people to think at some point their communication to the world will be cut off.[/su_quote][/column]
The removal of the yearly fee follows an admission that the system doesn’t really works as well as they hoped it would, and they don’t want to put off users without access to a debit or credit card. At the DLD conference in Munich Koum said this about it: “We just don’t want people to think at some point their communication to the world will be cut off.”
Maybe the fear starts coming in your head right now: is WhatsApp going to add ads into their app to pay for all the costs? According to Koum this won’t happen, WhatsApp will continue to be free. Instead of looking at the regular users, WhatsApp is going to focus on businesses, with introducing different way to communicate with companies.
Although they’re looking into the possibilities, there doesn’t seem to be any rush to make this happen, Koum noted: “We haven’t written a single line of code yet”. The two-way communication we were talking about will allow you to more easily contact the businesses you’re looking for, and the ability to allow those companies to send you messages like an airline sending you a message about a delayed flight.
Looking at that plan at this moment, it could be very useful, like an in-app Google Now. But, looking at the limitation for contact between companies and users, and the way they can communicate with you is going to be critical to its acceptance.
This model is going to replace the yearly fee, although there is now way to opt-out from receiving a little bit of business communication. Koum said that the withdrawal of the fee is already happening and for now it doesn’t look like there will be a way to say: “I’d actually like to pay $1 a year instead”. Refunds for the subscription fees already paid won’t be given either.
Do you like the new system? Do leave a comment, and I hope to see you next time, at your source for all things, tech!
Source: Android Authority
