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WhatsApp supports free encrypted video calling and picture messaging, even for groups. No way that it was covering costs.
by ggg9990 9y ago
WhatsApp supports free encrypted video calling and picture messaging, even for groups. No way that it was covering costs.
- detaro 9y agoIt does now, it did not when it was aquired.
- saagarjha 9y agoWhy can't it? End-to-end encryption means you don't need to hold on to pictures for lengthy periods of time, and video calling can be done without a centralized service.
- testvox 9y agoNeither of those costs anything extra to run though. Since it's end to end encrypted with no sever backups the images and video can be communicated directly between the clients, WhatsApp just plays matchmaker.
- icebraining 9y agoIt could, but that's not how it does, they store the (encrypted) media in their servers so that both phones don't need to be online at the same time, and also to avoid having to upload multiple times when you send to a group. That said, they shouldn't need to keep them around for that long, unlike FB and similar.
- GFischer 9y agoVideo and voice calling are peer-to-peer. The only cost is the signalling server. I have a similar service, and it scales pretty well.