WhatsApp is pushing back its controversial privacy policy change, delaying the date by which users must agree to the new terms over what the Facebook-owned messaging platform described as "misinformation" about how it shares data. Concerns began earlier in January, after an upcoming policy update seemingly required WhatsApp users consent to some of their data being passed over to Facebook.
Secure messaging service Signal is down this morning, with users reporting an inability to log into their account and check their encrypted messages. The company reported a huge influx of new registrations over the past week, accelerated by chatter that Facebook-owned WhatsApp planned to share user data with its social network parent.
Telegram has reported a mass of new users over the past 72 hours, an uptick no doubt spurred by Facebook's recent controversial decision involving WhatsApp and data-sharing. WhatsApp has presented itself as a secure messaging platform, including having introduced encrypted chats. However, last week it was revealed that users will need to agree to share their data with Facebook or move to a different app.
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Slack may have ended 2020 sitting pretty on a $27.7 billion acquisition by Salesforce, but it's starting the first workday of 2021 for many with some unexpected downtime. Many US workers trying to log into their workplace messaging this morning discovered that they simply couldn't get the system to load.
Many people observed common sense and participated in safe, socially distanced New Year's Eve celebrations last week -- something that heavily involved messaging services and voice calls. According to Facebook, its WhatsApp platform saw a record number of calls over the holiday, with more than 1.4 billion video and voice calls having taken place around the world.
WhatsApp ends service for a variety of devices starting on January 1, 2021. These devices are largely out-of-use at this point - but assuming you're the sort of person who keeps an old device for years and years, you might want to take a peek at the list. If you have an older mobile device and plan on using WhatsApp beyond the end of 2020, the time to get a new device is now.
Telegram has just pushed out an update that adds a major feature that some found to be a bit controversial, bringing group audio calls that have been compared to platforms like Discord. That, however, has been eclipsed by the revelation made by the popular encrypted chat service's founder made alongside that update. Telegram, Pavel Durov boasts, is nearing 500 million users but that number comes with the challenge of finding a sustainable way to support its operations without selling out to companies like Facebook.
When it comes to Facebook's instant messaging services, its own Messenger and Instagram are probably the most known. That said, there are definitely people and even businesses that rely on that other major messaging platform, WhatsApp. Like Instagram, WhatsApp has mostly been very phone-centric to the point that you couldn't use it anywhere else. Those days are slowly numbered and the latest beta feature will be bringing feature parity with WhatsApp on the desktop.
If you use Discord as your primary messaging platform, good news: you can now share your screen with other users from your mobile device, eliminating the need to dust off your laptop. The feature works exactly as you'd expect -- you can share what's happening on your display with others, opening the door to new broadcasting options.
As of this week, scheduled sending was released to a wide variety of Android smartphones in Google Messages. This new system allows users to set a time for sending any individual message. If you've never used this feature in any sort of app before - now's a good time to start.
This week it was revealed that the app GO SMS Pro uploaded shared files (photos, videos, audio) to public URL hosting on the internet. This is a privacy nightmare, and one that could have been avoided. The app GO SMS Pro is one of the most popular messaging apps for Android because it's simple and it appears to be free. But they've got to make their money somewhere, right?
Today we're taking a peek at Rich Communication Services (RCS) and what it means for you as it's reached global coverage. RCS is an open standard for messaging services on mobile devices that works with your data connection rather than your cellular connection. RCS chat features upgrade the abilities of SMS text messaging to take advantage of the abilities of smart devices and mobile data connectivity - and it's ready to roll now, around the world.