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TechCrunch reports that WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has revealed in an interview with Dutch journalist Alexander Klopping that WhatsApp Messenger for iPhone will be moving to a subscription model by the end of the year.
The new subscription model would apply to new users, Koum said, and would likely follow the same pricing structure as its other apps, which are free for the first year and then cost $1/year, compared to the single, for-life $0.99 purchase that users make on iOS today. “We’re relaxed on dates, but definitely this year. It’s on the road map,” Koum said.
When asked why the company was making the change, Koum responded that they wanted "to keep things simple," probably referring to wanting to have a standard pricing model across all platforms.
WhatsApp is an immensely popular cross-platform messaging app that sees 17 billion messages sent daily, which is over eight times as many as Apple's 2 billion messages sent daily on iMessage.
As of right now, WhatsApp for iPhone is still available for $0.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Waiting for the first moron with an iPhone that cannot afford to spend .79$/y on such a great app.
You didn't have to wait long, look at the post above yours :D
I was astonished to see this happen on my BB the other day saying I needed to update but to do so would cost me money. The solution was simple- I uninstalled Whatsapp.