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I suspect that the reason is that WhatsApp wants to make sure that the person behind using the web client is really the person behind the number. This is same r

I suspect that the reason is that WhatsApp wants to make sure that the person behind using the web client is really the person behind the number. This is same reason Whatsapp has no api. They don't want the bot problem that tinder has. People think the value of Whatsapp is that it is so pervasive. That's a big part of the value, but so much of the value is that whatsapp knows who you really are. You might have a few twitter accounts, a couple of facebook accounts. But you have only _one_ whatsapp account.

alganet 12y ago
In Brazil (same place as the post author), some people do have many WhatsApp accounts. New number SIM cards cost equivalent to $3 dollars and dual SIM smartphones are very popular. Many people use these SIMs in a disposable way, changing them as telecoms change their prices.
- bazookajoes 12y ago
  That's true, but in my experience you have one at a time. For south east asia it's normal to have one SIM for your local number and one SIM for your international number. Or just SIMs for different networks so that you can get free calls to friends who are the same network. But even then people usually have only one whatapp account at a time.
soapdog 12y ago
There are phones here supporting two, three and even four SIM cards. People will do crazy stunts with multiple accounts for everything. Also there are whatsapp bots, they are just not available on github anymore due to DMCA takedowns. You can still google for yosup, coseme and others to get libraries that allow you to build bots, third-party clients and stuff.
- bazookajoes 12y ago
  Yes, I am familiar with libraries and considered building an app on the back of whatsapp until the DMCA takedowns. The fact that whatsapp is fighting against bots is part of the reason there is so little spam on whatsapp. Yes, people do crazy thing with accounts, and in many parts of the world there are good reasons to have multiple SIMs. People will have 1 IG for sexy photos and another for their family, etc. But there is far less motivation to do that with whatsapp, line, viber, kik, etc. The reason for the difference in motivation is that your whatsapp messages are explicitly shared with individuals rather than with groups so there is no need to partition messages by accounts. The main reason for have two whatsapp accounts is the old joke about having two SIM cards: "one for your wife, and one for your girlfriend".

alganet 12y ago

In Brazil (same place as the post author), some people do have many WhatsApp accounts. New number SIM cards cost equivalent to $3 dollars and dual SIM smartphones are very popular. Many people use these SIMs in a disposable way, changing them as telecoms change their prices.

bazookajoes 12y ago
That's true, but in my experience you have one at a time. For south east asia it's normal to have one SIM for your local number and one SIM for your international number. Or just SIMs for different networks so that you can get free calls to friends who are the same network. But even then people usually have only one whatapp account at a time.

soapdog 12y ago

There are phones here supporting two, three and even four SIM cards. People will do crazy stunts with multiple accounts for everything. Also there are whatsapp bots, they are just not available on github anymore due to DMCA takedowns. You can still google for yosup, coseme and others to get libraries that allow you to build bots, third-party clients and stuff.

bazookajoes 12y ago
Yes, I am familiar with libraries and considered building an app on the back of whatsapp until the DMCA takedowns. The fact that whatsapp is fighting against bots is part of the reason there is so little spam on whatsapp. Yes, people do crazy thing with accounts, and in many parts of the world there are good reasons to have multiple SIMs. People will have 1 IG for sexy photos and another for their family, etc. But there is far less motivation to do that with whatsapp, line, viber, kik, etc. The reason for the difference in motivation is that your whatsapp messages are explicitly shared with individuals rather than with groups so there is no need to partition messages by accounts. The main reason for have two whatsapp accounts is the old joke about having two SIM cards: "one for your wife, and one for your girlfriend".