Just a few days ago, WhatsApp announced the 'desktop' version of its messenger, and at the same time the Italian operator announced the launch of the WhatSim project. Let's talk about this news in a little more detail.
I'll start with the desktop version of WhatsApp. Rather, the 'desktop' one, since at the moment it is available only for the Chrome browser. To activate the web version, you need to follow this link, and then scan the QR code that appears in your smartphone.
To do this, open the WhatsApp settings and select the 'WhatsApp Web' item. At the moment this functionality is available for owners of devices on Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10 and Symbian S60. Have you noticed some important operating system too? ? That's right, there is no support iOS, and this is due to the principle of the web version. It connects to your smartphone and syncs messages with it. An absolutely stupid option that requires constant access to the network from a smartphone.
What prevented you from making a full-fledged web version for all browsers, or even better, separate applications for Windows and OS X? Part of my job is WhatsApp, and it annoys me wildly that this app still doesn't have a desktop version. Viber, Skype, Telegram, and even VKontakte and Facebook (with the help of Jabber clients) can be used as separate desktop programs, while WhatsApp does not. And this limited version looks like a hand out to users thrown from the master's shoulder.
Another piece of news is the appearance of WhatSim, announced by the Italian company Zeromobile. The idea of a SIM card is pretty simple and concise. For 10 euros per year, you get the ability to send and receive WhatsApp messages anywhere in the world. At first glance, everything is fine, isn't it? But the devil, as usual, is in the details. For the offered amount, only text messages are available to you, but sending / receiving multimedia (photo, voice, video) will cost you another 5 euros for 50 photos.
It's not entirely clear what to do if I have a basic plan and someone sent me a photo. In the description of the tariff they write: You will always be notified of multimedia messages free of charge even without a recharge. However, it is unclear if incoming photos will be free or you will only receive a notification about media files, but the files themselves will not be visible? And even if the second option is implemented, how can the operator control such messages?
In the end, for a more or less full use of the SIM card, you will need to spend 15 euros, and, in my opinion, it is easier to purchase a local prepaid card with 500 MB of traffic, but without any restrictions.