Way beyond chatting: WhatsApp’s other features that have caught on
You may not need these applications on your phone anymore
Updated: Jul 5th, 2023
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| Applications on a phone (image: Pixabay) |
Meta-owned messaging application, WhatsApp, is available in over 100 countries. It has become a must-have on every mobile phone for textual communications. But, WhatsApp has plunged way ahead of its original stature. The Silicon Valley-based app, launched in 2009 as a messaging application, has now incorporated multiple features.
WhatsApp has frequently introduced features in its original application, and on top of that, it has also launched a standalone application called WhatsApp Business. The features available on WhatsApp can replace these applications for various utilities on your phone.
Virtual Meeting
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| Video Conference (image: Pixabay) |
WhatsApp introduced the feature of video calling in 2016. It initially started as a contact-to-contact video calling to which conference call features were added. One can now add up to eight participants to a video call.
Alongside this, ‘screen share’ can display a user’s screen during a video call, making it a capable replacement for apps like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet, as one can have their contacts and connections available in one place.
Online Payment
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| Online Payment (image: Freepik) |
Currently, consumers are familiar with Paytm, PhonePe, or Google Pay for their online money transactions. In 2021, WhatsApp also jumped into the bandwagon by introducing ‘WhatsApp Pay’, which uses UPI (Unified Payments Interface) for its transactions to existing contacts.
This feature is integrated into the chat box of the interface itself, which makes it a possible replacement for the other online payment applications as the user can make payments while staying in the chat box.
E-com interface
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| Online Shop (image: Freepik) |
To allow an individual to set up their online business, WhatsApp introduced its standalone business application, WhatsApp Business, in 2018, which acts as an E–commerce interface, providing the user with cataloguing, engaging with customers, and promotion as well.
This gave apps like Shopify and Ecwid a run for their money as customer engagement and promotions could be carried out from the same interface as that of WhatsApp.
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