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Sometimes the mind boggles how companies like Google or Apple with its iMessages, who have all the ducks in a row, are so slow to capitalize on these things. W
by recuter 14y ago
Sometimes the mind boggles how companies like Google or Apple with its iMessages, who have all the ducks in a row, are so slow to capitalize on these things.
WhatsApp and most clones are pretty terrible, it is used solely because of network effects. But apparently two years is quick enough to reach escape velocity and lock it in. They are likely to get that billion.
- kashif 14y agoYou should try Talk.to - http://talk.to http://talk.to Disclaimer: I am the lead dev for the android product.
- thejosh 14y agoClassy
- ronilan 14y agoRelentless.
- delano 14y agoThe line between being helping and selling is ambiguous. My hunch is that you're being downvoted because recuter didn't state a specific need, just that "most clones are pretty terrible".
- kashif 14y agoI was trying to say that we are trying not to be terrible :) PS: I couldn't give a rats ass about the votes.
- chmars 14y agoWhy should I try Talk.to? Your website does not speak for itself IMHO …
- joelhaasnoot 14y agoWhile they are terrible in so many ways - it just works. Google Talk just plain doesn't work with the latency and read notifciations. I manage an large piece of software with a GUI that runs on a locked down Linux workstation. WhatsApp is how I get "screenshots" of problems.
- shawabawa3 14y agoWhy exactly is WhatsApp terrible? I've been using it for about 6months and it works perfectly. Low memory usage, low disk space usage, low cpu usage, messages go through instantly and reliably. What more do you want in a messaging app?
- FreeKill 14y agoA desktop version as well, so I can use a single platform for all my messaging.
- ch0wn 14y agoSince their latest big update, the app on Android is quite good. They do, however, have a horrible security track record and I'm not sure what the current state of their authentication system is.
- pmelendez 14y ago"low cpu usage" This is not true on all the platforms. For instance, in my experience I found it that blackberry's and android's versions are quite good. But iOS version (on a 3G) and Windows Phone 8 version are very cpu demanding which result in draining the battery pretty quickly. WPH8 is the worse, although it is probably because a limitation of the OS (they had to had the audio sdk in order to make notifications work).
- andor 14y agoThere are some technical reasons, such as that the encryption is broken, the protocol isn't open and they have everybody's address books. Also, you can only use it from your phone. But (apart from the address book issue maybe) most people don't care about that. Usability-wise I like it more than Google's IM clients. Since I pay for the service, I trust them more than I trust Google, which is an advertisement company after all. I'd much prefer it if everybody used XMPP, but unfortunately that's not the case.
- omonra 14y agoAs a user of the app, I don't care about any of them. As far as I see it - it's perfect. For example - them having my addressbook means that I don't have to set up any contacts. While I wish there was a desktop service, its lack is just that - something I wish existed. I think a more precise way to describe it is "I disagree with certain technical solutions they chose".
- anizan 14y agoIts not just the network effects but direct access to phone numbers and contact book cross platform. so think of it like network*network.