WhatsApp Messenger Comes Under Scrutiny Over Privacy Practices

[Jeeg]

Originally Posted by samcraig

Hardly outdated, slow or lacking in features.

I actually do find whatsapp pretty slow, which is why I convinced my friends to move away from it, the delay in sending and receiving messages is pretty noticeable if you compare it side by side with other similar messaging services.

[zorinlynx]

Originally Posted by Jeeg

I actually do find whatsapp pretty slow, which is why I convinced my friends to move away from it, the delay in sending and receiving messages is pretty noticeable if you compare it side by side with other similar messaging services.

That's funny, i've noticed the opposite. It's near-instant.

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by zorinlynx

That's funny, i've noticed the opposite. It's near-instant.

My experience as well. Immediate.

And to say it lacks features is just ridiculous

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by From Win to Mac

Imagine iMessage, but with way more features, for all smartphone platforms...

But it's got a very major drawback: It doesn't work on tablets, computers or iPod Touches.

[Vudoo]

I use WhatsApp daily and I do agree that switching SIMs does throw things off. Otherwise, it works quite well.

As for privacy, it's no different than other apps such as Tango, Viber, and etcetera.

[Spink10]

I love WhatsApp - stay in contact with family overseas for free! Great for group messaging.

[M-O]

Originally Posted by From Win to Mac

Imagine iMessage, but with way more features, for all smartphone platforms...

without the sms switching feature that make iMessage so popular...

----------

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

But it's got a very major drawback: It doesn't work on tablets, computers or iPod Touches.

yep. another plus for iMessage...

[charlesdayton]

The newest versions of Trillian is doing the same.

[ncaissie]

Originally Posted by zorinlynx

I hope this app doesn't get suffer or pulled because of the privacy-freaks.

I understand the need for privacy; I want it too. But the app ASKS for access to your contacts; if you choose not to give it access you don't have to use it.

It's not like there's something subversive or sneaky going on here. I use this app all the time to "text" with some Android-using UK friends; not having to pay international SMS fees is nice.

Just because you don't see the need it doesn't mean it's not there.
For instance if my brother used this app and has my number in his contacts then I could start getting spammed with Texts. My number is unlisted for a reason and I want to keep it that way. Not everyone’s phones can except texts without paying $.75 per text.

[Macrolido]

I´d like to use Whatsapp on my iPod touch but I can´t

[iRCL]

Originally Posted by zhell

It would be trivial for WhatsApp to simply calculate a hash of the phone numbers before transferring them to the server. Since identical phone numbers would lead to the same hash, they could still very easily match them between users's contact lists.
My phone number SHA1-hashed is:

5dfa43101598fec3ec8d155437453f4e2f408676

Call me if you can

It boggles the mind, why this is not standard practice.

You do realize that CPU time is not free, right?