Microsoft engineered Windows Phone to be social and communicative from the get go, with Windows Phone 8 they have pushed that concept even further. Aside from Rooms, Emails, Text Messages and Social networks there are other ways to chat with your friends. One of those ways it to use the free IM app called WhatsApp, a messaging platform that has gained fairly widespread adoption.
We reported a few days ago on an imminent update and good news is that they have just pushed out version 2.8.10 onto the Windows Phone Store. This will update existing Windows Phone 7.x devices whilst also bringing Windows Phone 8 compatibility to the table.
In case you haven’t heard of WhatsApp here is what they say about their app:
“WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Noki9a and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.In addition to basic messaging WhatsApp users can create groups, send each other unlimited images, video and audio media messages.”
So WhatsNew in WhatsApp? Aside from the fact it now works on Windows Phone 8 devices we’re not seeing any big changes. Upon installing onto a a device here everything looks very much as we’d expect, setup on a Windows Phone 8 handset was normal and no new options are present. In fact the version on Windows Phone 7 is actually 2.8.8 so this is a very minor update.
We’re glad to see the app has been updated to support Windows Phone 8, we only wish that notifications and the integration of these types of apps could be improved. It would be great to see the messaging hub allow for deeper integration of other messaging platforms and better background persistence. For now the app will endeavour to push notifications for messages via the normal route which is fairly reliable.
Grab the update or download it fresh from the Windows Phone Store or scan the QR code below.
We’d like to hear from you if you notice anything new or simply have something to say about this IM app. Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks jgreen_0515 for the tip!!
