[d]

[spider]

#1 rule for WhatsApp is that although it will access your contacts, only contacts with a "+" and a country code in front of them will show up as options to call in WhatsApp. That peculiar little twist traps all American newcomers to WhatsApp.

 

Outrageous that Facebook isn't broken up for anti-trust and that it was allowed to buy WhatsApp and Instagram. You don't get any more monopolistic and anti-competitive and it's a critical part of society and the economy.

 

One more reason I got in the habit of using the entire number with the + for every contact. That way they always work regardless of where I happen to be. Also solves the problem of trying to figure out what number version to us for various countries (when do you strart with the zero, etc). With the full form it always works.

[+ Steve yabsley]

Ummm. I was speaking purely on a theoretical basis. … Really, I was.

 

@mike carey:

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is.

(I can’t take credit, the wit belongs to Yogi Berra).

[spider]

@mike carey:

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is.

(I can’t take credit, the wit belongs to Yogi Berra).

 

Or, as they say at UChicago - that’s all fine and good in practice, but does it work in theory?

[Ryan Roman]

You can get a burner number and use that number for What's app.

 

One's real phone number, or a throw-away number just used only on that service?

 

Kevin Slater

[Ryan Roman]

Does the person on the other end also need Wickr for the messages to burn from their messenger app?

 

I have WhatsApp, and it says it's end-to-end encrypted, but it's FB and I don't trust FB. I keep it for folks who are from other countries because of the cost/access benefits outlined by others above. I don't love when folks from the US use it in lieu of SMS but whatever.

 

I personally use Wickr - it's got end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages (you can set a burn on read timer for any time you choose from 1 second to 6 days), doesn't ask for a phone number or email to set up an account, is free (for the personal use - there's a business one for multi-user teams, not necessary). It's got a desktop app and a phone app; you can use fingerprint ID to unlock on devices with that ability. I also like Telegram for many of the same reasons, though I don't love that you specifically have to set up an encrypted connection.

[Guest europeanman]

I take lack of privacy for granted and I just don't care. Most of my text communication is iMessages. I avoid SMS like a plague.

[+ Eric Hassan]

Does the person on the other end also need Wickr for the messages to burn from their messenger app?

 

yes you can only message to others who are using wickr. the burn time you set is how long it will appear on the other's persons device. you can change burn time per message and the other person can not change your burn time for them, but they can change their burn time for you, and the burn times don't need to be the same

[TruthBTold]

Why do so few guys in the US use WhatsApp or Signal? Seems like a lot of guys prefer SMS, which is the least private or secure way to communicate. I guess SMS is at least better than RM messages.

 

My immediate family convinced me to be put on a list with my siblings/nieces/nephews. As has been mentioned there really is no cost for communication. However once I was on it I got every fucking back and forth between everybody. Most of what they had to talk about I was not really interested in and but it was there and you had to scroll through it. Perhaps there was a way to work it that I simply did not know about (that is a good possibility as I have really just mastered using the camera app) but it was driving me crazy and asked to be taken off.

[buckguy]

I've started using Whatsapp, but when I was on vacation overseas and had a SIM card in my phone, it seemed as though the US WhatsApp number as address wouldn't work. How do you keep it active with the inevitable need to deal with it detecting a new phone with a different number when you have a SIM for a new country?

[+ Tarte Gogo]

I've started using Whatsapp, but when I was on vacation overseas and had a SIM card in my phone, it seemed as though the US WhatsApp number as address wouldn't work. How do you keep it active with the inevitable need to deal with it detecting a new phone with a different number when you have a SIM for a new country?

This is strange. After your account was created successfully and you started using WhatsApp , the SIM card should not matter. You should even be able to remove it completely it and use the WiFi service exclusively.

 

What are the symptoms?

[buckguy]

I'm back in the US, so i can't do a demo of the problem.