6 ms·

Its worth remembering that whatsapp used to have an annual charge, and it grew successfully with that. The charge was only removed once FB bought them. Persona

Its worth remembering that whatsapp used to have an annual charge, and it grew successfully with that. The charge was only removed once FB bought them. Personally I don't know anyone that started using whatsapp after the fb purchase, so they were all happy to pay for their use of a messaging app.

throwaway77_a 6y ago
Did they have that ever on iOS? I’ve never seen it.
- roflchoppa3 6y ago
  yes they did
- Tijdreiziger 6y ago
  On iOS there was a one-time purchase fee. I recall there theoretically also being an annual charge, but IME this was always waived.
  - filmgirlcw 6y ago
    This is what I remember, tho I guess it’s possible they changed the terms for new users. But I bought it in late 2009, IIRC and it was either $0.99 or $2.99.
- perryizgr8 6y ago
  IIRC they charged for the app download on ios, and on android the initial download was free, but with a promise that they would start charging an annual fee soon. But that never happened. They kept extending the deadline and then got bought out.
- rpcwork 6y ago
  Been an iPhone prisoner/beaten-wife/lover since 2010. Whatsapp charged $1 per year for update. Happy to pay that in exchange for knowing that my familyand network information and more importantly info about my kids won’t be sold for pieces million times a minute on the digital ad auction markets.
Macha 6y ago
I have to say that prior to being free of charge, it wasn't nearly so popular in most markets. Viber was king in my country and individuals still used SMS outside a "messaging of last resort" use case it has become.
tinyhouse 6y ago
That's not entirely true. They did charge something tiny to use the app (I think it was ~$2/year) but in many countries (outside the US where they were much more popular) they didn't block users who didn't pay. If you didn't want to see annoying reminders you would just pay and get rid of it. Many people I know never paid.
- amingilani 6y ago
  I can confirm this. No one in my circles ever paid and the banner never went away.
- grishka 6y ago
  For me it simply displayed "the next year of service is on us" once a year, every year. Paying for WhatsApp was something of an urban legend.
  - idlecool 6y ago
    i paid for whatsapp back in 2012. it was a paid app on the app store. it wasn't much - $1, and everyone had to pay for it to download. later they made it a free app. i am more than happy to pay for a messaging app for myself and my close family, and i dont like the idea of sharing the data with fb. there needs to be a paid alternative.
    - grishka 6y ago
      I now remember it being a paid download on iOS but free on Android, and all my smartphones since the dawn of the duopoly ran Android, so...
    - tonyztan 6y ago
      > there needs to be a paid alternative. Just use Signal. It's free, open source, and end-to-end encrypted. https://signal.org/ https://signal.org/
      - CDSlice 6y ago

throwaway77_a 6y ago

Did they have that ever on iOS? I’ve never seen it.

roflchoppa3 6y ago
yes they did
Tijdreiziger 6y ago
On iOS there was a one-time purchase fee. I recall there theoretically also being an annual charge, but IME this was always waived.
- filmgirlcw 6y ago
  This is what I remember, tho I guess it’s possible they changed the terms for new users. But I bought it in late 2009, IIRC and it was either $0.99 or $2.99.
perryizgr8 6y ago
IIRC they charged for the app download on ios, and on android the initial download was free, but with a promise that they would start charging an annual fee soon. But that never happened. They kept extending the deadline and then got bought out.
rpcwork 6y ago
Been an iPhone prisoner/beaten-wife/lover since 2010. Whatsapp charged $1 per year for update. Happy to pay that in exchange for knowing that my familyand network information and more importantly info about my kids won’t be sold for pieces million times a minute on the digital ad auction markets.

Macha 6y ago

I have to say that prior to being free of charge, it wasn't nearly so popular in most markets. Viber was king in my country and individuals still used SMS outside a "messaging of last resort" use case it has become.

tinyhouse 6y ago

That's not entirely true. They did charge something tiny to use the app (I think it was ~$2/year) but in many countries (outside the US where they were much more popular) they didn't block users who didn't pay. If you didn't want to see annoying reminders you would just pay and get rid of it. Many people I know never paid.

amingilani 6y ago
I can confirm this. No one in my circles ever paid and the banner never went away.
grishka 6y ago
For me it simply displayed "the next year of service is on us" once a year, every year. Paying for WhatsApp was something of an urban legend.
- idlecool 6y ago
  i paid for whatsapp back in 2012. it was a paid app on the app store. it wasn't much - $1, and everyone had to pay for it to download. later they made it a free app. i am more than happy to pay for a messaging app for myself and my close family, and i dont like the idea of sharing the data with fb. there needs to be a paid alternative.
  - grishka 6y ago
    I now remember it being a paid download on iOS but free on Android, and all my smartphones since the dawn of the duopoly ran Android, so...
  - tonyztan 6y ago
    > there needs to be a paid alternative. Just use Signal. It's free, open source, and end-to-end encrypted. https://signal.org/ https://signal.org/
    - CDSlice 6y ago