WhatsApp is one of the most used instant messaging applications in the world. Currently The service is used by more than 2 billion people in more than 180 countries, who actually do much more than send messages through the app, since WhatsApp also allows you to make video calls, send voice messagespost statuses and more.
However, although WhatsApp is extremely popular in Spain, Latin America and many other territories, The app is not very popular in the United StatesBut this could be changing. Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp already has more than 100 million active users in the United States.
WhatsApp wants to overtake iMessage and texting in the US, but it’s not an easy task
Zuckerberg, through his WhatsApp channel, announced that the communications platform already has Over 100 million monthly active usershaving seen accelerated growth in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Seattle. They have also achieved considerable growth in the south of the country. In Texas, for example, they already have more than 10 million users.
WhatsApp is a huge app and has a lot of importance in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. However, the platform has had a hard time gaining a greater presence and growing active users in the United States, an undoubtedly important territory for Meta, the company that bought WhatsApp in 2014 for the whopping sum of $19 billion.
In the United States, users prefer to use text messages (SMS) to communicate, with iMessage being an extremely popular service in the country for many years. In the country there has even been a controversy between iPhone users and Android users. by the color of the text message bubbles: If you’re using an iPhone and you receive a text message from an Android, the message will be in a green bubble. In contrast, the text bubble for messages shared via iMessage between iPhones is blue.
Outside the United States, this may sound like a minor and irrelevant detail. But the color of the bubbles has generated controversy related to discrimination against young people and teenagers for using an Android phone instead of an iPhone. In addition, the user experience when sharing messages between iPhone and Android is also affected, since Files such as images and videos can be shared in lower quality.
WhatsApp, of course, does not have this problem. The app works perfectly on both platformsthere are no barriers or limits when sending files and messages between iPhone and Android phones.
The Meta-owned platform has already surpassed 100 million active users in the United States, an important step towards establishing itself as a popular alternative in the country. However, with the new iOS 18, support for the RCS protocol will also come to iMessage, which should greatly improve the experience of sharing messages and multimedia files between iPhone and AndroidThere’s a chance that this change could prevent more people from migrating from iMessage to WhatsApp, and that’s something WhatsApp needs to be taking into account as it looks for ways to attract more users in the United States.
Cover photo | Hannah Busing in Unsplash (with editing)