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WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

(www.nytimes.com)
713 points greenburger | 6 comments | 16 Jun 25 13:38 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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d3vmax ◴[17 Jun 25 06:18 UTC] No.44296182[source]▶
Alice Newton-Rex, head of product at WhatsApp: “Alongside of private messaging, people were saying they wanted to hear more about topics, teams and organizations across WhatsApp.”

- I am pretty sure NO ONE asked to hear about more topics and organizations across whatsapp.

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EbNar ◴[17 Jun 25 08:04 UTC] No.44296745[source]▶
I'd literally PAY for a mod taking away the "updates" tab. I don't care about stories nor I want channels shoved in my face. I just need to message someone, from time to time.
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fanwood ◴[17 Jun 25 08:14 UTC] No.44296789[source]▶
I found the solution by convincing all my friends and family, one by one, to move to Signal. I still use Whatsapp for people who did not migrate, but it's surprisingly possible (if not easy) to convince people to use another app
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1. mrweasel ◴[17 Jun 25 08:18 UTC] No.44296820[source]▶
That's amazing, I'm still trying to move our family group chat to Signal... I've moved exact zero family members.
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2. tialaramex ◴[17 Jun 25 09:08 UTC] No.44297110[source]▶
I was pleasantly surprised one evening, out with friends, as for some reason the entire group decided they ought to mutually verify on Signal. I'm not certain that "Very drunk people" are the best possible to perform the verification step in Signal, but it's certainly true that you'd have to be a very determined and skilled imposter to show up to somebody's birthday, drink and smoke for several hours in that company and then go through this elaborate verification ritual.

Over time such verification "decays". People buy a new phone, that sort of thing, but it was a healthy boost in one inexplicable moment.

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3. volemo ◴[17 Jun 25 09:35 UTC] No.44297249[source]▶
Is there no way to transfer verification in Signal when changing devices?
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4. random_savv ◴[17 Jun 25 11:18 UTC] No.44297777{3}[source]▶
The fact that this didn’t work seamlessly for my chat history is why I stopped using Signal
5. sebastiennight ◴[17 Jun 25 11:23 UTC] No.44297809[source]▶
Are you still on WhatsApp? If yes, then that's the reason. Trying to move a whole group over when you're willing to compromise is a recipe for failure because everybody would get inconvenienced for something that's only somewhat important to you.

It's like: should we all go to a vegan restaurant instead of the usual steakhouse because you decided you want to "try" being vegan this Friday night, of all nights. Just try it out another day and let us have our fun, Fred.

If you were not on WhatsApp at all, then it becomes a balance of : tiny per-person inconvenience versus 100% clear-cut decision on your part. Oh you've converted to whatever religion and can't have pork anymore? Now we have a choice between not inviting you at all, or trying the restaurant next door.

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6. mrweasel ◴[17 Jun 25 12:22 UTC] No.44298258[source]▶
> Are you still on WhatsApp?

That would actually be marginally better. No everyone is on f-ing Snapchat. I'm in Denmark, which like the US is pretty big on iMessage, so originally we where using that. Then my sister got an Android phone, and the group chat obviously broken, because no RCS back then.

Everyone has SMS, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and Instagram (except me for Meta products). So no one is really keen on adding a fifth app, where for me it would remove Snapchat, bringing me down to just SMS and Signal.