The WhatsApp, err, app may be free, but the service isn’t. You’re going to have to pay a yearly subscription fee to keep messaging people, even if you’re an iPhone user.
Up until now, users on non-Apple platforms have supposedly had to pay a yearly subscription fee to use the service, but none of our WhatsApp-using friends have seen it yet. Now, WhatsApp is apparently transitioning to a subscription model across all devices, which means you get the app for free, but you have to pay something to use it once a year. Oh, and if you were holding out for a WhatsApp desktop app, don’t hold your breath, as WhatsApp’s CEO said it’s not going to happen, anytime soon at least.
The good news is that it’s probably not going to break the bank, because the yearly sub is about 70p at the moment. Considering there’s roughly 100 million users on WhatsApp, that’s a decent chunk of change. Even so, if that really does cover all costs, which I’m kind of assuming it does, then it goes to show just how expensive text messages really are. But then you already knew every text you pay for is an utter rip-off of epic proportions, right?