WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update

Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update by kelnos on Monday January 25, 2021 @01:44AM (#25900072)

It's weird to hear you say that, because SMS is terrible. Unreliable delivery, delivery receipts that come back even if the recipient's phone is turned off, no media (MMS is also terrible, just try to send a video over it and watch the pixelated garbage that comes out the other side), no privacy or security to speak of, carrier interop issues (character encodings, message length, shortcode support), identity tied to your phone number, no ability to send/receive messages without being tethered to the phone (to be fair, Signal and WhatsApp also have this problem)... I could go on.

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Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update by mlang23 on Monday January 25, 2021 @02:48AM (#25900514)

Interesting. I guess the issues you see as a user depend on where you life / which carrier you are using?

I had more issues with iMessage delivery then I ever had with SMS in my whole life. I dont even remember a single incident with SMS delivery. And I consider your "missing media" point an advantage. Sending stupid videos from phone to phone is a disease that I dont want to deal with.

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Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update by jfim on Monday January 25, 2021 @07:40AM (#25902468)

> no ability to send/receive messages without being tethered to the phone (to be fair, Signal and WhatsApp also have this problem)

Signal actually has a desktop app. It requires having installed signal on a phone before, and linking the accounts, but it doesn't depend on the phone after that I believe.

As for SMS, it works on pretty much any device and network, with the caveats that it's the first and lowest common denominator messaging service.

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Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update by Normille on Monday January 25, 2021 @10:21AM (#25904140)

  >Signal actually has a desktop app.

So does Telegram. And it works independently of whether or not you've got the app installed on your phone.

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Re:WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update by eecc on Monday January 25, 2021 @02:17AM (#25900265)

SMS and MMS are telco standards whose progress and maintenance depends on the willingness of operators to patch and upgrade their infrastructure equipment (good luck with that)

So yeah, while saddening I don’t expect SMS to make much progress as its lifecycle is tied to the worst one in the industry.

XMPP had a better chance, but unfortunately chatting service is the bait for other purposes... so an interop standard has no chance to survive without regulation.

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