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Tag: whatsapp update

  • ‘Optional experiences’ for companies with new WhatsApp replace

    Facebook-owned WhatsApp is within the means of updating its privateness coverage and phrases of service to mirror “optional experiences” for companies, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of dad or mum firm Facebook, mentioned in an earnings name early Thursday. This is in sharp distinction with WhatsApp’s earlier notification to customers suggesting that they are going to be required to comply with the brand new phrases and coverage to proceed utilizing the messaging app publish February 8. WhatsApp had subsequently prolonged this deadline until May 15.
    “Many businesses need more than a phone to manage their customer service, so we’re building tools to let businesses store and manage their WhatsApp chats using our secure hosting infrastructure if they would like. We’re in the process of updating WhatsApp’s privacy policy and terms of service to reflect these optional experiences,” Zuckerberg mentioned.
    The up to date coverage and phrases have been first introduced by an in-app notification in early January to customers, who have been requested to just accept them by February 8, failing which they’d lose entry to their accounts. These modifications sought consumer approvals, which the corporate deemed essential to introduce new methods to message companies by way of WhatsApp Business. Zuckerberg mentioned enterprise messages will solely be hosted on its infrastructure if enterprise select so.

    “We want everyone to know the lengths we go to protect your private messages, so we’re moving the date of this update back to give everyone time to understand what the update means,” he mentioned.
    WhatsApp’s new coverage and phrases of service have drawn flak for various guidelines for Indian customers vis-à-vis European customers.

  • WhatsApp is rolling out video, voice calling characteristic to desktop customers

    WhatsApp has began rolling out the video and voice name characteristic for extra desktop customers, although the choice continues to be in beta and never everybody will see it instantly. WhatsApp had confirmed that the characteristic would begin rolling out in 2021, Reuters reported in December 2020. Currently, the video and voice calling characteristic is just out there on the cellular model of the messaging app.
    Earlier, the decision characteristic was out there for choose customers and now, a number of individuals are witnessing the choice on their WhatsApp Web. However, it’s nonetheless out there just for beta testers, that means customers who’re counting on the check construct of the app, and never the general public model.
    The firm is predicted to launch the steady model within the coming months. Some customers who ar seeing the decision choice within the desktop model, posted screenshots of the identical on Twitter.

    A verified Twitter person by the identify of Guillermo Tomoyose shared a screenshot, exhibiting how the decision characteristic appears like and works in the actual world. The picture clearly exhibits that the decision characteristic for each video and audio calls, with the beta image subsequent to it.
    He additionally added, “Calls from WhatsApp Web are not available from a web browser, in my case the option appeared within the app for Windows 10, which is downloaded from the Microsoft store or from the WhatsApp site.”

    WhatsApp is rolling out WhatsApp Beta calls on WhatsApp Desktop for extra customers!https://t.co/4EduW4bHfP https://t.co/JIFRFLB8je
    — WABetaData (@WABetaData) January 21, 2021
    The screenshot exhibits that the voice and video name button can be positioned on the chat header, identical to the cellular model of WhatsApp. Whenever a person will obtain a video or voice name on WhatsApp net/desktop, a small field will pop up, utilizing which one can settle for, decline or ignore an incoming name.
    Back in December 2020, WaBetaData reported that “WhatsApp is rolling out beta calls for specific users but unfortunately, being a beta feature, it’s available for very few people. We hope you’re lucky but, if it doesn’t, don’t worry: every day more users receive that activation and, at present, WhatsApp Desktop has a higher priority.”

  • India asks WhatsApp to withdraw adjustments to privateness coverage

    The Indian authorities has requested WhatsApp to withdraw the current adjustments within the privateness coverage of the messaging app, saying unilateral adjustments aren’t truthful and acceptable.
    In a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology mentioned India is residence to the most important consumer base of WhatsApp globally and is one the largest markets for its companies.
    The proposed adjustments to the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy Policy “raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens,” it wrote.
    The ministry requested WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed adjustments and rethink its strategy to info privateness, freedom of selection and knowledge safety.
    Stating that Indians ought to be correctly revered, it mentioned, “any unilateral changes to the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy would not be fair and acceptable.”

  • WhatsApp privateness coverage replace delayed: Everything that has occurred up to now

    WhatsApp has introduced that it’s delaying implementation of the brand new privateness coverage until May 2021, as the corporate needs customers to know the brand new phrases after which agree. It admitted that the brand new coverage has precipitated loads of confusion and there was plenty of misinformation concerning the adjustments as nicely. Further, WhatsApp as additionally promised that it’ll not delete anybody’s account on February 8.
    The Facebook-owned firm is giving customers no less than three months of time to correctly assessment and settle for the coverage. WhatsApp stated that the privateness coverage will come into impact on May 15. Here’s a have a look at how all this began and what the state of affairs is presently.
    WhatsApp updates privateness coverage on January 4
    Earlier this month, WhatsApp up to date its privateness coverage and requested customers to conform to the adjustments earlier than February 8. The new updates included extra details about how companies use Facebook hosted providers to retailer and handle their WhatsApp chats. It additionally expanded on how WhatsApp companions with Facebook to supply integrations throughout the Facebook Company.

    WhatsApp highlighted that the brand new privateness coverage would additionally affect consumer interactions with enterprise accounts, a lot of which could use Facebook’s internet hosting providers. The knowledge sharing with Facebook was already happening since 2016, when the final main replace to the privateness coverage happened. But remember, WhatsApp by no means stated it will share consumer knowledge corresponding to chats or group names or group chats with Facebook.

    Read extra: WhatsApp delays up to date privateness coverage after complicated customers

    WhatsApp confronted backlash, folks moved to sign or Telegram
    The new privateness coverage, whereas it didn’t change something for private chats, precipitated plenty of alarm. Many have been sad with the ‘accept or leave’ circumstances that WhatsApp had added within the phrases and circumstances. Further privateness points have been raised and plenty of misinformation additionally unfold concerning the app.
    Due to privateness points, many customers switched to Signal, which is a extra privateness centered messaging app. As a consequence, Signal achieved the primary place on App Store in India and quantity three place on Google Play. Lots of people began downloading the non-public messaging app when Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly urged customers to make use of Signal. Many additionally moved to Telegram as it’s a feature-rich messaging app.
    Whatsapp points clarification
    As folks have been involved about privateness and deliberate emigrate to different messaging apps, WhatsApp clarified that neither it nor Facebook can see customers’ non-public messages or hear their calls. The firm stated that every one the messages are end-to-end encrypted, and it doesn’t maintain logs of who folks message or name. The service additionally tried to make clear that WhatsApp can’t see the shared location (neither can Facebook), and it doesn’t share customers’ contacts with Facebook.

    “WhatsApp was built on a simple idea: what you share with your friends and family stays between you. This means we will always protect your personal conversations with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages. It’s why we don’t keep logs of who everyone”s messaging or calling. We can also’t see your shared location and we don’t share your contacts with Facebook,” it stated.
    But it did make clear once more that enterprise chats between customers and enterprise accounts have been impacted below the brand new coverage.  As the brand new coverage underlined,  messaging a enterprise on WhatsApp just isn’t the identical as one-on-one chat together with your family and friends, given a enterprise might use a third-party service to handle and host these chats. It might additionally use Facebook’s providers to handle these chats and later use this knowledge to say run an commercial on the social media community. Read extra on how that’s impacted right here.

    In depth: Explained: How non-public is WhatsApp, what can Facebook see and do you have to have a look at options?

    WhatsApp extends deadline of privateness coverage settlement
    WhatsApp had requested its customers to just accept the brand new privateness coverage by February 8, nevertheless it has now prolonged the deadline to May 15. The firm believes that customers are confused about their new phrases and that they don’t have correct readability on the most recent privateness coverage. WhatsApp has additionally confirmed the account of customers gained’t be deleted on February 8.
    “We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15,” the corporate stated in a brand new blogpost.

  • Signal actually must introduce these WhatsApp options

    WhatsApp is without doubt one of the finest messaging apps because it provides a easy consumer interface and is full of options. But many individuals have determined it’s time to give up WhatsApp in mild of the brand new privateness coverage, and change to Signal. While it’s good to see many of the WhatsApp options obtainable on Signal, there are a number of key ones that we miss having on it. Here are WhatsApp options we want had been obtainable on Signal.
    Live Location
    It is without doubt one of the essential options that WhatsApp provides to its customers, particularly in India. While you get the choice to share location on Signal, customers can’t share stay location, which could not be very useful in some conditions. It is an effective function to have in these eventualities the place customers have to coordinate and meet up at locations, that are tough to search out in any other case. Apps like Telegram and iMessage already supply help for stay location. Until and until Signal provides stay location function, one can use Google Maps to share stay location.
    Media settings
    There is not any choice to alter media settings for each chat, in contrast to WhatsApp. By default, all of your photographs or movies are usually not downloaded in your telephone’s storage and you’ll have to manually obtain them. WhatsApp is extensively utilized in India and lots of photographs or movies are shared each day and a few folks do like to save lots of them to their telephone. The firm ought to supply the choice to let customers resolve whether or not all of the media must be robotically downloaded within the telephone’s storage or performed manually. Of course, this additionally signifies that with Signal all these good morning forwards are usually not consuming up your telephone’s storage.

    To discover out what all media you might have shared together with your good friend in Signal, simply go to the person’s chat > faucet on three-dotted icon > All media. Here, you’ll be able to manually choose photographs, information, movies, audio information, and paperwork (that you’ve got exchanged) to obtain in your telephone.
    If you might have obtained multiple picture in a chat, you simply have to long-press on the photographs, then the app will provide you with the choice to all obtain. Once you faucet on the obtain button, all of the photographs will get downloaded.
    Profile image
    There is not any choice to cover the profile image from among the customers. Signal doesn’t supply any function to set who all can see your profile image. Those who’re in your handle e-book, or a part of any teams you settle for can see your profile image on Signal.

    Chat Wallpapers
    There is not any choice to alter chat wallpaper right here. WhatsApp means that you can personalise chats by altering wallpaper, which makes a chat look extra attention-grabbing and enticing. You can set customized chat or doodle wallpapers. You additionally get the flexibility to set separate wallpapers in mild and darkish mode settings. The means so as to add customized chat wallpapers to make chats private and distinguishable by utilizing a customized wallpaper for various chats is sort of good and attention-grabbing.

  • Signal actually must introduce these WhatsApp options

    WhatsApp is among the finest messaging apps because it gives a easy person interface and is full of options. But many individuals have determined it’s time to stop WhatsApp in gentle of the brand new privateness coverage, and swap to Signal. While it’s good to see many of the WhatsApp options out there on Signal, there are a number of key ones that we miss having on it. Here are WhatsApp options we want have been out there on Signal.
    Live Location
    It is among the necessary options that WhatsApp gives to its customers, particularly in India. While you get the choice to share location on Signal, customers can’t share dwell location, which could not be very useful in some conditions. It is an efficient function to have in these situations the place customers must coordinate and meet up at locations, that are tough to seek out in any other case. Apps like Telegram and iMessage already provide help for dwell location. Until and except Signal provides dwell location function, one can use Google Maps to share dwell location.
    Media settings
    There isn’t any choice to alter media settings for each chat, in contrast to WhatsApp. By default, all of your images or movies usually are not downloaded in your telephone’s storage and you’ll have to manually obtain them. WhatsApp is broadly utilized in India and numerous images or movies are shared each day and a few folks do like to avoid wasting them to their telephone. The firm ought to provide the choice to let customers resolve whether or not all of the media ought to be robotically downloaded within the telephone’s storage or finished manually. Of course, this additionally signifies that with Signal all these good morning forwards usually are not consuming up your telephone’s storage.

    To discover out what all media you have got shared together with your pal in Signal, simply go to the person’s chat > faucet on three-dotted icon > All media. Here, you may manually choose images, recordsdata, movies, audio recordsdata, and paperwork (that you’ve exchanged) to obtain in your telephone.
    If you have got obtained multiple picture in a chat, you simply must long-press on the images, then the app gives you the choice to all obtain. Once you faucet on the obtain button, all of the images will get downloaded.
    Profile image
    There isn’t any choice to cover the profile image from a few of the customers. Signal doesn’t provide any function to set who all can see your profile image. Those who’re in your handle e book, or a part of any teams you settle for can see your profile image on Signal.

    Chat Wallpapers
    There isn’t any choice to alter chat wallpaper right here. WhatsApp means that you can personalise chats by altering wallpaper, which makes a chat look extra attention-grabbing and enticing. You can set customized chat or doodle wallpapers. You additionally get the flexibility to set separate wallpapers in gentle and darkish mode settings. The potential so as to add customized chat wallpapers to make chats private and distinguishable by utilizing a customized wallpaper for various chats is kind of good and attention-grabbing.

  • WhatsApp to quickly get Read Later function: Here’s all the things you must know

    WhatsApp is engaged on a Read Later function and the platform is predicted to launch it shortly. It is all set to interchange the present Archived Chats function. The Read Later function looks like a greater model because it won’t deliver again the archived chats on the highest of the messaging app to cut back interruptions. WaBetaInfo noticed this function within the newest 2.21.2.2 beta model of WhatsApp.
    Currently, while you archive a person or group chat in WhatsApp, the service hides it within the archive part, in order that the chats usually are not seen on the highest of the messaging app. However, every time a brand new message arrives, the archived chat routinely reveals up on the highest of the display, which is kind of annoying. With the brand new Read Later function, WhatsApp goals to eradicate these interruptions.

    Once it’s enabled, chats with new messages will stay within the Read Later part and customers received’t be notified if a brand new message arrives. In less complicated phrases, all chats within the Read Later class will stay muted. “WhatsApp was developing Read Later, a replacement/improvement of Archived Chats. When a chat is added in your archive, the user doesn’t receive notifications from it because all archived chats will be automatically muted, in order to reduce interruptions,” the cited supply reported.

    “If you don’t like Read Later and you want to ‘downgrade’ to the old functionality (when the feature will be enabled for everyone in a future build), you can within WhatsApp Chat Settings,” WaBetaInfo added. Currently, you discover the Archived chats on the finish of all of the chats. You simply must open WhatsApp and scroll all the way down to the underside of the chats. Here, you will notice the ‘Archived’ choice, which you must click on on to see what all chats you have got achieved. The function may first be rolled out to Android WhatsApp customers, as per the supply.

  • Signal to ramp up hiring after WhatsApp controversy drives obtain surge

    Messaging app Signal has seen “unprecedented” development following a controversial change in rival WhatsApp’s privateness phrases and is seeking to rent extra employees because it seeks to bolster the service and supporting infrastructure, the pinnacle of its controlling basis mentioned on Wednesday. Along with one other encrypted app, Telegram, Signal has been the principle beneficiary of on-line outrage across the modifications introduced final week, which require WhatsApp customers to share their knowledge with each Facebook and Instagram.
    Telegram mentioned on Wednesday it had surpassed 500 million lively customers globally. Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp earlier than promoting it to Facebook after which co-founding the Signal Foundation, declined to provide equal knowledge for Signal however mentioned that the enlargement in latest days had been “vertical”.”We’ve seen unprecedented development this previous week,” Acton mentioned in an electronic mail to Reuters.
    “It’s safe to say that because of this record growth, we’re even more interested in finding talented people.”He additionally mentioned Signal was working to enhance its video and group chat capabilities, permitting it to compete higher with WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, and different conferencing apps which have turn out to be very important to day-to-day life over the previous yr. Signal was downloaded by 17.8 million customers over the previous seven days, a 62-fold rise from the prior week, in response to knowledge from Sensor Tower.
    WhatsApp was downloaded by 10.6 million customers throughout the identical interval, a 17% decline. Privacy advocates have jumped on the WhatsApp modifications,pointing to what they are saying is Facebook’s poor monitor file of supporting shoppers’ pursuits when dealing with their knowledge, with many suggesting customers migrate to different platforms. The non-profit Signal Foundation based mostly in Silicon Valley, which presently oversees the app, was launched in February 2018with Acton offering preliminary funding of $50 million.
    It has existed on donations since, with Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk amongst supporters, and Acton mentioned there have been no plans to hunt completely different sources of funding.”Millions of individuals worth privateness sufficient to maintain it, and we’re making an attempt to exhibit that there’s a substitute for thead-based enterprise fashions that exploit person privateness,” Acton mentioned, including donations have been “pouring in”.

  • What’s totally different while you chat with a enterprise on WhatsApp?

    Facing a belief deficit after an replace to its privateness coverage final week, WhatsApp Tuesday launched a brand new submit elaborating on the modifications within the privateness coverage and making an attempt to reassure customers that it doesn’t share any private chats, messages or name historical past with Facebook. But in relation to chats with enterprise accounts, the privateness coverage does include some essential updates, and in choose instances, knowledge could also be shared with Facebook.
    WhatsApp has tried to make clear on how when one interacts with a enterprise account on the platform, the concerns could possibly be a bit totally different.
    First, let’s check out what the privateness coverage says about companies on the platform? This is what the related two paragraphs learn like:
    Businesses you work together with utilizing our Services might present us with details about their interactions with you. We require every of those companies to behave in accordance with relevant regulation when offering any info to us.
    When you message with a enterprise on WhatsApp, needless to say the content material you share could also be seen to a number of folks in that enterprise. In addition, some companies may be working with third-party service suppliers (which can embody Facebook) to assist handle their communications with their prospects. For instance, a enterprise might give such third-party service supplier entry to its communications to ship, retailer, learn, handle, or in any other case course of them for the enterprise. To perceive how a enterprise processes your info, together with the way it may share your info with third events or Facebook, you need to overview that enterprise’ privateness coverage or contact the enterprise immediately.

    What this implies is that messaging a enterprise on WhatsApp shouldn’t be the identical as one-on-one chat together with your family and friends. These messages shall be seen to much more folks within the enterprise, and will depend on a special firm to retailer, learn or reply to messages. This is what the discover will seem like while you work together with a enterprise account.
    This is what the message will learn like while you work together with a enterprise account.
    Businesses utilizing Facebook internet hosting providers 
    Some companies may use “hosting services” from Facebook itself to handle communications on WhatsApp. These internet hosting providers are used to handle chats with prospects, “answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts.” When you speak to a enterprise on WhatsApp, it sees what you might be saying and could possibly be storing these chats for his or her inside overview functions.
    For occasion, if you are going to buy a product on xyz web site, and the order alerts additionally seem on WhatsApp with particulars about supply and many others, and the corporate is utilizing Facebook’s internet hosting providers, the info could possibly be shared with the social community. WhatsApp additionally says that info shared on enterprise chats may later be utilized by the enterprise for “its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook.”
    So you may speak to a enterprise about buying one thing from them, and later you might see an advert for a similar on Facebook. WhatsApp says it should “clearly label conversations with businesses that are choosing to use hosting services from Facebook.”
    More e-commerce options
    WhatsApp now has options like Shops, the place companies can show their items proper inside the app. This is a Facebook-branded product and it began rolling out to the platform in December 2020.
    WhatsApp clarifies that should you “choose to interact with Shops, your shopping activity can be used to personalise your Shops experience and the ads you see on Facebook and Instagram.” It will inform customers of how their knowledge is shared with Facebook ought to they select to make use of Shops on the platform.

    Also learn: WhatsApp privateness coverage replace: Don’t fall for these false claims

    Not all enterprise accounts have the Shops characteristic activated. Some are easy enterprise accounts with out the power to buy merchandise immediately from the messaging app. But as extra companies depend on WhatsApp to conduct their enterprise, they may possible use such options.
    Finding a enterprise
    WhatsApp additionally says customers “may see an ad on Facebook with a button to message a business using WhatsApp.” If one has WhatsApp put in on their telephone, they may have the choice to message that enterprise. If you do work together with these advertisements, “Facebook may use this information to personalise the ads that you see on the social network.”
    So how do I keep away from enterprise accounts on WhatsApp?
    If you don’t want to speak to any enterprise account on WhatsApp, you all the time have the choice of blocking it straight on the app. Further, when you find yourself ordering merchandise from web sites, some may ask if you wish to get updates on WhatsApp. You can select to say no to the choice. For occasion, websites like MakeMyTrip, Nykaa, and many others do ship updates about flights or orders on WhatsApp. You can select to say no to that exact possibility.