What Are the Pros and Cons of WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is one of the most popular chatting apps in the market. According to statistics, more than 5 billion devices have downloaded the app since its inception.

However, just like any other app, this has its positives and negatives. But what are these?

This article contains an extensive list of the pros and cons of WhatsApp. Therefore, if you are unsure whether you should get the app, this article will help you decide.

Pros of WhatsApp

WhatsApp is loaded with various premium features. Here are some of the most outstanding ones.

Pro #1: It’s Free

Unlike many apps, WhatsApp is completely free to use, meaning everyone has access to all its available features.

Pro #2: Easy to Master

One of the best marketing points of WhatsApp is that it is designed with a user-friendly interface.

Therefore, it’s easy for someone who’s not tech-savvy to master the app’s workings with or without external help.

Pro #3: It Allows You to Share Your Location

This app has a unique feature that allows sharing your location with people on your WhatsApp contact list.

This way, the recipient can quickly know your whereabouts and even follow the map to get to where you are.

Additionally, you can even share your live location for 15 minutes, one hour, or 8 hours. Therefore, the recipient will be able to track you.

Pro #4: Messages Are Encrypted

For privacy purposes, all your WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted.

So in layman’s terms, only you and the person you are chatting with have access to your chat content.

Pro #5: It Doesn’t Have Ads

Although WhatsApp is free, it doesn’t run in-app ads, which ultimately contributes to a pleasant user experience.

Pro #6: Comes With an Audio and Video Calling Feature

WhatsApp is mainly used for sending text messages. However, it has additional features such as audio and video calling.

This way, you save some money otherwise spent on your mobile airtime because this app uses mobile data or Wi-Fi.

Pro #7: Allows You To Email Your Chats

If you want to print your chats or store them for backup for whatever reason, then WhatsApp allows you to email the chat contents.

This feature is essential in various instances, one of them being when you want to delete your account but don’t want to lose the contents of your chats.

Pro #8: Allows You To Mitigate Data Usage

Assuming you want to save your mobile data but still want to use WhatsApp, you can tweak the app’s settings in your favor. First off, you can reduce the quality of your audio and video calls so that they use less data.

Another data-saving setting is disallowing the app to download videos and photos automatically. This way, you get to download only useful media.

Pro #9: Discreet Voice Note Listening Feature

One of the most thoughtful features of WhatsApp is that you can listen to your voice notes discreetly.

So, assuming you are in public without headphones but still want to listen to private audio, you can hold your phone up to your ear, and the audio will play as if it’s a phone call.

Pro #10: It Comes With a WhatsApp for Businesses Feature

If you are a business owner/manager, you will greatly appreciate that WhatsApp has a business feature. First, opt to make a business account.

Then, your WhatsApp contact list will be able to access your catalogue or receive an automated message every time they text you, or you can even link your account with other social media sites, among other things.

Pro #11: Allows You To Send Single-View Media

If you want to send media but don’t want the person to have a permanent copy of it on their chat media library, then you can set the media to only be viewed once.

This way, unless the recipient screenshots or screen records, they will not be able to go back and view the media file.

Pro #12: Impeccable Compatibility

WhatsApp developers designed the app to be compatible with any smartphone with adequate space, whether it runs on Android or iOS.

Pro #13: Support for Siri

Unlike most social media apps, WhatsApp has a Siri support feature.

Therefore, if you have an iPhone, you can instruct Siri to text, call or do practically anything doable on WhatsApp on your behalf.

Pro #14: Shows You the Delivery Status of Messages

After sending text or media to your WhatsApp contact, you will be able to see whether the message was successfully sent, if the recipient received it, and when they finally read it.

Pro #15: Allows You To Form Groups

You can form groups with a limited number of participants on WhatsApp.

Also, you can have group audio or video calls, which is an added advantage.

Pro #16: Broadcast Messages

If you want to send a specific message to several persons, you can send a broadcast text, saving you time and energy.

Cons of WhatsApp

Though few, WhatsApp has some concerning drawbacks. Here are some of them.

Con #1: File Size Limitations

WhatsApp only allows you to send media files of up to 16 MB and documents of up to 100 MB, which is quite limiting.

Con #2: Phone Number Is Mandatory for Access to Other Users

Unlike social media apps such as Instagram, which allow you to find persons using their usernames, WhatsApp only allows you to communicate with others if you have their phone numbers.

Con #3: Privacy Concerns

There have been countless privacy allegations against WhatsApp, and recently, it was discovered that the app shares users’ data with Facebook.

Some data in question includes how long you use the app and so forth.

Conclusion

The above article makes it easy to see why WhatsApp is one of the most popular social media apps.

It all boils down to the fact that the app is free yet packed with valuable features that make communication easy and interactive.

Though it has some drawbacks, the good definitely outweighs the bad.