What’s App for iPhone Provides Yet Another Reason to Get An iPhone
By: Hillel Fuld
As you might know if you follow me on Twitter or read my tech blog, I am a huge BlackBerry fan. I made a conscious decision to get my BlackBerry Bold over an iPhone, and I do not regret it. Now before all you fanboys close this tab and write me off as another delusional mobile consumer, let me explain my thought process to you. There are many reasons that I prefer my Bold over an iPhone, but the primary one being the ability to run multiple background apps simultaneously. I have yet to hear a convincing argument explaining how any heavy smartphone user can have only one app running at a time.
Another crucial BlackBerry advantage for me is BlackBerry Messenger, which took me some time, but I now recognize its greatness. If you are a Berry user, you know what I am talking about, and if you are not, let me explain. BlackBerry Messenger or BBM is an always-on BlackBerry to BlackBerry messaging service, which enables you to send SMS or chat like messages for free to any other RIM device. This of course saves you money on SMS, time on emails, and battery life on IM apps. It is an essential part of the BlackBerry experience, and one I am not willing to give up on.
Well, on my list of BlackBerry advantages, looks like the whole BBM issue is a goner, since it now exists on the iPhone/iPod Touch, and it rocks. What’s App is an iPhone to iPhone messaging app that is available for free and enables you to text any iPhone user you would regularly be SMSing for no charge. All you need is the person’s phone number in your phone book, for them to have the app, and you are good to go.
The app pushes notifications to your iPhone just as SMS does, and allows you to communicate with your friends in a very simple and user friendly UI. So how does it work? When you first open the app, it automatically searches for contacts that are using What’s App and adds them to your favorites. Keep in mind that I was testing this out on an iPod Touch, so there might be some small differences on an iPhone.
The app also includes four other tabs besides Favorites, namely Status, Contacts, Chats, and Settings. The Status tab allows you to choose your status that will appear on your contacts display, add a custom status, and of course edit the existing ones. You can also select a status and define when it will expire and what is the status is will automatically change to. So, if you are working on a project, you can set yourself to Busy and configure that it will expire in 2 hours, at which time you will be seen as Available again. Pretty sweet.
The Contacts tab allows you to see all your contacts, their information, and the ability to invite them to use What’s App. However, when I clicked on Invite, nothing seemed to happen, so either that is a bug or it sent that person an SMS/email and did not notify me that it is doing so, either way, not happy with that. You can also add any contact to your favorites directly from the Contacts tab.
The Chat tab is where all your open conversations appear. Each message has a timestamp, and the messages appear in bubbles, very similar to threaded SMS, or IM conversations.
The Settings tab includes a Help section, About, Tell A Friend, which sends an email from the regular email interface, the Chat Settings, which include wallpaper, history, and notification settings, as well as the ability to post your status on Facebook and receive notifications when your contacts change their status. You can also disable the Auto Lock feature so the iPod/iPhone does not lock up, preventing you from receiving What’s App notifications.
There you have it, the entire interface of What’s App. It is all very familiar to BBM users, or anyone who has ever IMed or texted. The benefits of What’s App should be obvious, but just in case, you can send international text messages for free, you can contact anyone immediately without the delay of them checking their email or opening an IM app, and as opposed to BBM, you do not need to know a PIN or a user name, the app does it all for you.
Just in case I did not give you enough reasons why I love this app and you should too, I have had the privilege of working with the developers for the past few days, giving them some feedback, and having my comments implemented immediately. They have a highly professional team, who is truly interested in making the best product possible. Some of the features they are currently working on for the next release include Message Delivery Acknowledgements (like BBM), picture, video, and audio transfer (like BBM), additional languages, notification sound options, as well as other bug fixes.
This app is a MUST HAVE for all iPhone/iPod Touch users, since it is now free on the App Store, and rumor has it, it will not be forever. Just in case you think I am exaggerating, check out the top free apps in the App Store, What’s App is right up there with giants like Facebook and Photoshop, a clear indication of its awesomeness.
Our Rating: 5/5
Developer: Whats App
