WhatsApp

Unsurprisingly, iPhone Messages bug crashes iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

An odd software bug which causes the iPhone's Messages application to crash and sends the handset into a respring after a certain text is received affects the iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, too. In addition, the text bug apparently affects third-party social and messaging apps that deal with text, including WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat, The Guardian newspaper learned today.

That's hardly surprising. The issue can be traced back to a specific series of Unicode characters, suggesting a bug in the text engine framework called CoreText that exists in iOS and OS X.

That would explain why third-party apps that deal with messages, like Twitter and Snapchat, were affected as they tap into Apple's CoreText engine to manage strings of text and layouts.

How to disable WhatsApp Read receipts

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

You probably already know the two blue check marks you see next to your messages in WhatsApp conversations are Read receipts indicating your contact has indeed read your message. This is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it can be very helpful at times, when you want to make sure your friend read your message for example. It can also be a curse, because you can't really pretend you didn't read a message if you actually have.

These problems are now a thing of the past with WhatsApp recent update that lets you disable and enable Read receipts at will. In this post, I'll show you how to disable WhatsApp Read receipts.

WhatsApp for iPhone rolling out VoIP calling, gains iOS 8 share extension and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2023

Following months of promises and multiple delays, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which commands more than 800 million active users worldwide, on Tuesday started rolling a voice calling feature in its iPhone application.

WhatsApp Calling is a staggered release and will be rolling out “slowly over the next several weeks,” the company said, meaning it may not be available for you immediately.

In addition to calling other people for free over Wi-Fi networks, regardless of where they may live, the app has gained other enhancements, too, starting with a much welcomed app extension on iPhones running iOS 8. Sadly enough, this update hasn't brought out support for iOS 8's Interactive Notifications.

How to run Android apps like WhatsApp and Instagram on Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 19, 2019

ARC, or App Runtime for Chrome, is a tool that allows you to run many Android apps right on a desktop machine. For the most part, the apps look and function like they do on an Android phone or tablet.

Why is this so cool? Well, it means that you can now have access to whole variety of new apps. Some apps, like WhatsApp, have no native desktop counterpart, so it's especially nice for apps like these.

While it isn't a perfect 1:1 solution, and some apps outright don't work, it's worth trying if there's an app that you want that isn't otherwise available on the desktop. In this post and video, we'll walk you through the steps of configuring Google's ARC Welder tool, and show you how to run multiple applications as well.

How to get WhatsApp voice calling on your jailbroken iPhone

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated July 22, 2017

If you're jailbroken, and have a little patience, you can get WhatsApp's new in-beta voice calling feature on your iPhone right now. To do so, you'll need to download the WhatsApp beta, download a package from Cydia, and following a couple of additional steps.

After following this tutorial, you will be able to access voice calling in WhatsApp. I can personally verify that this technique works, and was able to shoot a video walkthrough showing you the steps along with a live phone call.

Screenshots show WhatsApp for iOS’ calling feature currently in beta

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Italian blog iPhoneItalia has posted a series of screenshots showing the new calling feature currently in beta testing for WhatsApp, the hugely popular communications app owned by Facebook.

WhatsApp has been rolling out the functionality to select users as part of a beta testing program over the past few months, with plans to release it to the public in the near future. Since more texts in the world are being sent through WhatsApp than traditional SMS, the new VOIP calling from WhatsApp could be a very big deal.

WhatsApp gains improved image chooser, new Call button and Dynamic Type support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2023

WhatsApp for iPhone got updated Thursday with three noteworthy improvements. For starters, it now honors your preferred font size set in Settings > General > Accessibility > Larger Text so all text labels throughout the app get rendered in your chosen typeface size.

There's also a new call button in chats. Lastly, a built-in image chooser has been redesigned so you can now quickly add recent images from your Camera Roll right after tapping on the camera icon in chats.

Facebook’s WhatsApp popularity continues with 700 million active users, vows improvements

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

WhatsApp, the huge messaging app owned by Facebook, announced on Tuesday that it now has 700 million monthly active users, making it one of the most popular networks on the entire web. The app, which allows users to send texts without paying for messaging plans through carriers, has reached its new milestone of 700 million active people by adding 100 million users since August.

Nuntius brings native iOS 8 quick reply to WhatsApp

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

One of the best things about using the Messages app in iOS 8 is the quick reply interface. Sadly, third party apps don't have access to the quick reply API, so they are limited in this regard. Wouldn't it be nice if one of your favorite messaging apps got access to real native iOS 8 quick reply? That's the exact premise behind Nuntius, a brand new jailbreak tweak that brings true native iOS 8 quick reply to WhatsApp.

Carousel by Dropbox gains native iPad UI, sharing to Instagram and WhatsApp and web app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Released in April of 2014, Carousel is a great app to enjoy all your photos stored in Dropbox, but I've always resented that it didn't have a native interface on the iPad. The Dropbox-owned software has received a refresh Thursday, at last adding the native interface on Apple's tablets.

In addition, Carousel now lets you share images from your Dropbox to Facebook-owner Instagram mobile photography service and WhatsApp mobile messaging platform. And as a nice bonus, the team has thrown in a compelling Carousel web app.

Carousel is available free in the App Store.

WhatsApp starts encrypting instant messages on Android, iOS and other platforms coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

WhatsApp, the most popular instant-messaging platform with more than 600 million users which Facebook snapped up for $16 billions earlier this year, has started to protect data with end-to-end encryption, The Wall Street Journal reports.

For the time being, text messages exchanged between Android users of WhatsApp are being encrypted by default.

It shouldn't be too long until the company adds encryption to the iOS app and other mobile platforms. Encryption protects users' communications from governments and hackers alike by making the data unreadable as it travels between servers.

WhatsApp updated with support for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The Facebook-owned cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp has updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.11.14. The team says the new version fixes bugs and crashes, as well as adds support for the new iPhones.

The app now looks great on the larger display of the iPhone 6, and the larger, higher resolution display of the iPhone 6 Plus. WhatsApp, which Apple labels as an App Store "Essential," was one of the few remaining top tier apps to update.