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WhatsApp is missing out in a big way. In Brazil almost every business has a whatsapp number. Where are the tools to make using whatsApp easier for a business?

WhatsApp is missing out in a big way. In Brazil almost every business has a whatsapp number. Where are the tools to make using whatsApp easier for a business? The fact that I still need my phone around to use the webclient just sucks. Telegram doesn't need it, why does whatsapp?

film42 9y ago
Agree 100%! I also find it weird that you can only be signed in to one web client at a time, and your phone MUST be connected to the internet for it to work. Telegram also has a really great developer experience while WhatsApp is locked down. Hopefully biz verification is the first of many new product features. I know making big changes with as many users as they have is really hard, but I would love to see some momentum.
MichaelGG 9y ago
They're moving slow, probably out of extra caution about scaring off users by commercializing it. It's not like they're unaware of the absolutely massive demand for brands and companies to get into WA. Maybe it's also spam. You can't sign up for Whatsapp without a mobile number - landlines and VoIP mostly do not work to activate.
- BenjiWiebe 9y ago
  Google voice numbers work, and show up in contact lists as Grand Central, which makes me think they explicitly intend to support Google voice.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - MichaelGG 9y ago
    Interesting. I tried that earlier this year and WhatsApp rejected it saying it wasn't a mobile.
rodorgas 9y ago
WhatsApp need it because of the P2P technology. On Telegram, your messages are stored on their servers, so it's less secure, but you can text on multiple devices. I agree that we need business tools. The demand for customer service via WhatsApp where I work is much higher than the ability to a single operator answer them.
- fishywang 9y ago
  It's possible to store messages on the servers and be secure at the same time (I'm not saying Telegram in particular is secure). I think it's more because Whatsapp's model is much cheaper on server expenses (they only need to store messages on the server until it's delivered).
  - rodorgas 9y ago
    It can be secure, but it's less secure by definition. While it's almost impossible to crack some cryptos, it's definitely impossible retrieve data that simply isn't there.
    - fishywang 9y ago
      What I'm saying is I don't think Whatsapp designed it to be secure (P2P is more likely a byproduct of their design). They designed it to save server cost. After they are successful, it's straightforward to implement P2P crypto on that design, so they added that feature because they don't store the messages on server anyway.
    - newscracker 9y ago
      WhatsApp is not strictly P2P and your belief that it doesn't store information on its servers, by claiming "it's definitely impossible retrieve data that simply isn't there", isn't true. It does store encrypted messages on its servers for up to 30 days while it attempts to deliver it. [1] [1]: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy-information-we-collect https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy-information-w...
- newscracker 9y ago
ReverseCold 9y ago
> The fact that I still need my phone around to use the webclient just sucks. Telegram doesn't need it, why does whatsapp? Basically why we can't have end-end encrypted communication for the masses.
dheera 9y ago
> The fact that I still need my phone around to use the webclient just sucks. Exactly, I never got this about WeChat and WhatsApp. If I have my computer (which has a 4G connection) with me, I shouldn't need to carry my phone with me. I usually run WhatsApp and WeChat inside Android virtual machines to solve this major design flaw.
- superasn 9y ago
  Isn't that what web.whatsapp.com for?
  - com_kieffer 9y ago
    No, as far as I remember you need the phone and the computer to be on the same wifi.
    - shliachtx 9y ago
      Not the same wifi, but since web.whatsapp is pulling the data from your phone, they recommend that your phone be connected to wifi.
    - tonfa 9y ago
      You don't. Your phone needs to be on the internet tho. Personally I like this setup, it's simple and just works. And no issue about missing some messages or duplicate notifications (which is sometimes the case with multi endpoint apps).
  - dheera 9y ago
    web.whatsapp.com requires you to scan some silly QR code with your phone instead of just inputting a username and password. The point is, I would like to not have to carry my phone. My basic tenet of computing is that every device I own should be able to do ALL tasks that it is computationally capable of, without relying on other devices. When I'm sitting in front of a 4K screen with a massive multi-core CPU and GPU desktop, that I own, there is NO reason I should be be required to also have on my person a 6" dinky piece of junk just to operate the desktop. Every device should independently handle everything it is capable of. So in my case the virtual machine can just run WhatsApp and I can completely leave my phone behind when I choose to carry my computer with me. Same thing for WeChat. I want my most powerful computers to be able to handle 100% of my personal tasks, not 99%.

film42 9y ago

Agree 100%! I also find it weird that you can only be signed in to one web client at a time, and your phone MUST be connected to the internet for it to work. Telegram also has a really great developer experience while WhatsApp is locked down. Hopefully biz verification is the first of many new product features. I know making big changes with as many users as they have is really hard, but I would love to see some momentum.

MichaelGG 9y ago

They're moving slow, probably out of extra caution about scaring off users by commercializing it. It's not like they're unaware of the absolutely massive demand for brands and companies to get into WA. Maybe it's also spam. You can't sign up for Whatsapp without a mobile number - landlines and VoIP mostly do not work to activate.

BenjiWiebe 9y ago
Google voice numbers work, and show up in contact lists as Grand Central, which makes me think they explicitly intend to support Google voice.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  Interesting. I tried that earlier this year and WhatsApp rejected it saying it wasn't a mobile.

rodorgas 9y ago

WhatsApp need it because of the P2P technology. On Telegram, your messages are stored on their servers, so it's less secure, but you can text on multiple devices. I agree that we need business tools. The demand for customer service via WhatsApp where I work is much higher than the ability to a single operator answer them.

fishywang 9y ago
It's possible to store messages on the servers and be secure at the same time (I'm not saying Telegram in particular is secure). I think it's more because Whatsapp's model is much cheaper on server expenses (they only need to store messages on the server until it's delivered).
- rodorgas 9y ago
  It can be secure, but it's less secure by definition. While it's almost impossible to crack some cryptos, it's definitely impossible retrieve data that simply isn't there.
  - fishywang 9y ago
    What I'm saying is I don't think Whatsapp designed it to be secure (P2P is more likely a byproduct of their design). They designed it to save server cost. After they are successful, it's straightforward to implement P2P crypto on that design, so they added that feature because they don't store the messages on server anyway.
  - newscracker 9y ago
    WhatsApp is not strictly P2P and your belief that it doesn't store information on its servers, by claiming "it's definitely impossible retrieve data that simply isn't there", isn't true. It does store encrypted messages on its servers for up to 30 days while it attempts to deliver it. [1] [1]: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy-information-we-collect https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy-information-w...
newscracker 9y ago

ReverseCold 9y ago

> The fact that I still need my phone around to use the webclient just sucks. Telegram doesn't need it, why does whatsapp? Basically why we can't have end-end encrypted communication for the masses.

dheera 9y ago

> The fact that I still need my phone around to use the webclient just sucks. Exactly, I never got this about WeChat and WhatsApp. If I have my computer (which has a 4G connection) with me, I shouldn't need to carry my phone with me. I usually run WhatsApp and WeChat inside Android virtual machines to solve this major design flaw.

superasn 9y ago
Isn't that what web.whatsapp.com for?
- com_kieffer 9y ago
  No, as far as I remember you need the phone and the computer to be on the same wifi.
  - shliachtx 9y ago
    Not the same wifi, but since web.whatsapp is pulling the data from your phone, they recommend that your phone be connected to wifi.
  - tonfa 9y ago
    You don't. Your phone needs to be on the internet tho. Personally I like this setup, it's simple and just works. And no issue about missing some messages or duplicate notifications (which is sometimes the case with multi endpoint apps).
- dheera 9y ago
  web.whatsapp.com requires you to scan some silly QR code with your phone instead of just inputting a username and password. The point is, I would like to not have to carry my phone. My basic tenet of computing is that every device I own should be able to do ALL tasks that it is computationally capable of, without relying on other devices. When I'm sitting in front of a 4K screen with a massive multi-core CPU and GPU desktop, that I own, there is NO reason I should be be required to also have on my person a 6" dinky piece of junk just to operate the desktop. Every device should independently handle everything it is capable of. So in my case the virtual machine can just run WhatsApp and I can completely leave my phone behind when I choose to carry my computer with me. Same thing for WeChat. I want my most powerful computers to be able to handle 100% of my personal tasks, not 99%.