Just the other day, I told you all about an iPhone app I was using in place of SMS called Ping! Well, it’s only been a couple of days, but true-to-form, I’ve already found an excellent competitor and possible replacement for Ping! called WhatsApp Messenger. WhatsApp works in the same method as Ping!, meaning that you don’t have to create an account, you don’t have to worry about the server logging you out after a period of inactivity (the way IM apps do), and you still get push notifications. The big difference between WhatsApp and Ping! is that Ping! requires you to create a unique Ping! ID and then share that with others that want to contact you. WhatsApp makes it way easier.
First, you put in the your phone number when you open the app. This makes it so anyone that knows your phone number can find you on WhatsApp. But it gets easier. You can then connect your WhatsApp identity with Facebook. Once you’ve done that, everyone that you know that also connects with Facebook automatically pops up in your Favorites list, so you can quickly and easily see which of your friends and family are ready to be messaged. You can still send messages to other people that have WhatsApp even if they’re not your Facebook friends (or if they don’t connect to Facebook themselves, but still use WhatsApp).
Honestly, the only thing missing from this app is the ability to send messages to people without the app over SMS. How awesome would it be if you sent a message to a friend that doesn’t have this app, they receive it via text, and you have a conversation. But, a week later, they get the app themselves. The next time you send them a message, since their iPhone number is now in the WhatsApp database, it could send the message to WhatsApp via push notification, saving the new WhatsApp user from using a text message. This would be an amazing way for the service to reach everyone you care about.
The one other drawback to WhatsApp is that it doesn’t work on the iPod Touch, whereas Ping! does. I can only hope that is an oversight that will be remedied soon, as WhatsApp has a much nicer interface, an excellent feature set, and great (in-app) sounds. I definitely recommend giving it a shot.
