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A comment on WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App. Parent comment

Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App by ignoramous on Monday June 16, 2025 @05:48PM (#44293719)
> ... Whatsapp became a paid app ... it was either €0.79 or €0.99, I’m not sure if one off or yearly payment, but it doesn’t matter ...

Interestingly, WhatsApp put up paid plans to slow down user acquisition [0].

On Androids, in some countries, WhatsApp continued to work even if you didn't pay the $1/year fee.

[0] https://youtu.be/8-pJa11YvCs?t=952

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Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App by debugnik on Tuesday June 17, 2025 @02:35AM (#44296252)
In Spain, most people who didn't pay in the first few days after the free period expired then received a free renewal.
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Re:WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App by hocuspocus on Tuesday June 17, 2025 @06:25AM (#44297510)
In my case I don't remember having to let the trial period expire, it just got renewed automatically a couple times before WhatsApp became free.

I don't know any Android users who paid back then, only iPhone owners did.

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