WhatsApp Plus Lands on iPhone With Custom Themes, Icons, and More

[MacRumors]

WhatsApp has started rolling out its paid WhatsApp Plus subscription to iOS, following beta testing of the new personalization-focused tier amongst a small group of users, reports WABetaInfo.

The plan is light on practical features, and is aimed more at heavier users who want to customize various aspects of the WhatsApp experience. It gives you access to premium sticker packs with fullscreen overlay animations (visible to recipients without the plan) and 18 accent colors that replace the app's default green across the interface. There are also 14 alternate app icons to choose from, ranging from minimal outlines to glittery and artistic designs.

The plan also raises the pinned-chat limit from 3 to 20, adds 10 new ringtones, and allows bulk theme, alert tone, and ringtone settings across chat lists.

The subscription costs €2.49 per month in Europe and $29 in Mexico, but that may not be reflective of the price in other regions. Eligible users may also see a one-week or one-month free trial, depending on the country. If you have a WhatsApp Business account, though, you won't see the subscription option -- it's for regular users only.

WhatsApp's core functionality remains changed, so users with no interest in the plan don't lose anything. Messaging, voice and video calls, status updates, and end-to-end encryption are still free for everyone. WhatsApp Plus is basically an optional add-on providing extras rather than restricting existing features.

The rollout is limited to a small group of iOS users on the latest App Store version, but broader availability is expected over the coming weeks.

Article Link: WhatsApp Plus Lands on iPhone With Custom Themes, Icons, and More

 

[wanha]

a monthly subscription for themes is essentially a vanity tax

 

[cookiemonster89]

When do they roll out Liquid Glas? Already a year after the release and I still have the old keyboard. Cannot be this hard?

 

[lanceuppercut47]

Wow, if people are so desperate to throw away money, I have a bridge they can subscribe to, sadly the buy and lifetime plans are already sold out so just the monthly subscription remains.

 

[Pupi]

Last week Whatsapp forced me to update the Mac desktop client version. It really popped a screen that stopped me from using the one I was using as it had expired, and forced me to update it via App Store.

I did, and the new version has a serious bug that makes chatting windows disappear when you change chats. They go blank and I gotta restart the app.

Bugs happen, but they went out of their way to make the previous .update unusable only to force feed this ****. You'd think they'd have high QA if they keep such a tight control on which versions are being used.

This, plus the insane backup size it takes on iOS, the time it took for them to release an iPad client, the archaic account system and so on.

I would never pay to use Whatsapp. Hate this company (or sub company, yes I know it belongs to Meta - which just adds insult to injury).

What a joke.

 

[MikeTheBohunk]

So, that’s why the selection of notification sounds in the current app has remained so measly…

 

[n-evo]

Meanwhile I’m still waiting for multi-number support and Liquid Glass while friends have had it for months now. I absolutely hate their staggered rollout of new features which just drags on for ages.

 

[rgeneral]

Geezz why anyone pay for it. It is just weird

 

[jlc1978]

a monthly subscription for themes is essentially a vanity tax

Yea. I use WhatsApp simply because a lot of my colleagues do, and as a result we can call each other for free and avoid huge international phone bills. Prior to WhatsApp it was Skype but MS killed that so WhatsApp is the only viable option for calls, simply because everyone uses it. If Apple actually made FaceTime available cross platforms so it would simply ring on other non-Apple devices and not require a link, WhatsApp might face real competition.

WhatsNext? Prerecorded ads before the connect you? I suspect Meta wants to try to actually make money off of WhatsApp, all the AI stuff is expensive.

 

[TronLord]

WhatsApp's core functionality remains changed, so users with no interest in the plan don't lose anything. Messaging, voice and video calls, status updates, and end-to-end encryption are still free for everyone. WhatsApp Plus is basically an optional add-on providing extras rather than restricting existing features.

It’s still free for now. I can see Meta gutting the free experience in the coming years until the free version becomes basically unusable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ll limit daily messages or group sizes in the foreseeable future just so they can squeeze some cash out of their users to pay for their crappy AI-infrastructure or whatever the next bubble will be.