five years ahead shortly before it was free

Currently, we do not conceive of instant messaging as a paid service since platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram offer their services for free, but this was not the case before the smart phones. Since Telegram caused some controversy with its future subscription, I decided to go back to when I paid for WhatsApp. Nothing more and nothing less than five-year subscription. In advance.

Few applications have become indispensable at the level of WhatsApp, a software used more than the phone itself. Its communication possibilities are its main claim, but there is another quality that ended up elevating WhatsApp above even SMS: the first are free, they are included in the Internet access. But at first it wasn’t like that, I can attest to that.

Paid on iOS; free download and with subscription on Android

We have already forgotten that instant messaging had a cost for the user: SMS was literally a plague; Therefore, any service that managed to match the speed of SMS, eliminating the cost per bounce, was a guarantee of success. Before WhatsApp, said success was driven by BlackBerry Messenger. Better known as BBM.

I’ve always been surprised that business smartphones of BlackBerry’s stature do well with younger users, even though the company and carrier charge for the service on a subscription basis (the BIS, the BlackBerry Internet Service). Before iPhone and Android became popular, the most wanted mobiles had a non-touch screen and a physical QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and company. For a reason: all messages will be included in the BlackBerry Internet service.

I didn’t have a BlackBerry at the time of the BBM explosion, the business style didn’t convince me despite the email. I bought the first iPhone, then the iPhone 3GS and my first Android, the phone that made me fall in love with the system purchased by Google: the HTC Magic. WhatsApp fell on my phones when hardly anyone knew about this app.

A year and a half after its launch and when WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton sent me access to the Android beta, I downloaded it on the iPhone as well. On iOS, WhatsApp has put a paywall on downloading (I bought it at 0.79 dollars in August 2010); on Android the download was free, WhatsApp offered one year free and now charged 0.89 dollars (the first years, the service was paid at $1.99I have receipts from 2010 and 2011).

Yes, WhatsApp used to cost money before Facebook bought the app. I remember user complaints for that almost euro that had to be paid through the app, about 0.89 dollars that in practice hardly anyone paid. WhatsApp’s tactic was to extend payment without actually canceling the service (I don’t know of anyone who canceled WhatsApp at that time for not paying the subscription).

Currently, the fact that Facebook WhatsApp’s meta-control and use of metadata as an advantage in its relationship with other companies is seen as something negative, but when Zuckerberg’s company bought the messaging app, the situation was at the opposite: joy was widespread that WhatsApp ended up being a 100% free application. By not continuing to pay these 0.89 dollars per year, we ended up selling our use. From my point of view, I think we lost.

I paid for five years of WhatsApp two and a half years before it was free

And without anyone in my environment ever paying for the app, I must add. I have always believed that good service deserves a corresponding payment, after all no one works for free (or shouldn’t). And for me instant messaging is a fundamental pillar of our society; so much so that it is the main reason why the smartphone is currently a common object. And further: apps like WhatsApp have made smartphones cheaper at current levels.

Yes, I paid WhatsApp and I don’t regret it. And I will surely pay for a subscription via Telegram, just like I pay for Twitter: if I enjoy the app and consider that it adds significant value to my daily routine, I think offering direct feedback to developers is an act of justice. As long as the price is right.