WhatsApp update

[NedFlanders]

Which should surprise exactly no one at all.

If an application is free then you are the product being sold.

Do people expect that Meta is maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars of servers simply so missionaries can communicate for free in third world countries? To write the sentence is to realize how ridiculous the notion is.

Pay for cell service and use SMS or email. That is the alternative to free apps.

You are 100% correct Ken.

Hence my astonishment learning that CA’s use these apps…

Free is pretty hard to turn down.

Come to Canada where Socialism reigns and you might start to think different about “free.”

[RZehr]

You are 100% correct Ken.

Hence my astonishment learning that CA’s use these apps…

Free is pretty hard to turn down.

Come to Canada where Socialism reigns and you might start to think different about “free.”

No thanks. I’d like to visit, but not stay.

[ohio jones]

So now WhatsApp has Channels that you can follow.

So this is something new? I thought it was invented 123 years ago by Mary Maxwell, except back then it was channels only, without the rest of WhatsApp.

Just a channel full of blessing,
To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation,
All Thy loving message sound.

[RZehr]

So now WhatsApp has Channels that you can follow.

So this is something new? I thought it was invented 123 years ago by Mary Maxwell, except back then it was channels only, without the rest of WhatsApp.

Just a channel full of blessing,
To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation,
All Thy loving message sound.

The difference is that these aren’t channels full of blessing. It’s the content.

[Ken]

So what is wrong with just using email to communicate internationally?

There are a bazillion different email services and you can set up your own if you want. Just configure your phone's native email application to check email on whatever account you want, and if immediacy is important you can configure notifications to tell you when you have new email.

Then you can check and send email for free any time you have access to any kind of WiFi or cellular service. It isn't any more difficult to type and send an email message on a phone than it is a WhatsApp message. And you can do group messages just as easy if not easier.

[Josh]

So what is wrong with just using email to communicate internationally?

Well you can’t keep grandma updated at home instantly with the latest pics of your kids via email. WhatsApp is much easier to use too. Besides, grandma can barely figure out email.

There are a bazillion different email services and you can set up your own if you want. Just configure your phone's native email application to check email on whatever account you want, and if immediacy is important you can configure notifications to tell you when you have new email.

Then you can check and send email for free any time you have access to any kind of WiFi or cellular service. It isn't any more difficult to type and send an email message on a phone than it is a WhatsApp message. And you can do group messages just as easy if not easier.

As I have said before, given a choice of forfeiting their salvation or keeping WhatsApp or a fancy smartphone, a sizeable fraction would choose the latter.

[ohio jones]

So what is wrong with just using email to communicate internationally?

Well you can’t keep grandma updated at home instantly with the latest pics of your kids via email.

Of course you can.

WhatsApp is much easier to use too. Besides, grandma can barely figure out email.

Grandma (well, my mother, who is a grandma) has been using email and texting for years. Her dumbphone can't handle WhatsApp. She got added to her church's WhatsApp groups (or whatever they are using) and started getting notifications that there's a message, but she couldn't download the message, got frustrated, and felt left out. So now there's a designated person to paste the WhatsApp messages into a text so she can read it. Much easier.

[Ken]

So what is wrong with just using email to communicate internationally?

Well you can’t keep grandma updated at home instantly with the latest pics of your kids via email.

Of course you can.

WhatsApp is much easier to use too. Besides, grandma can barely figure out email.

Grandma (well, my mother, who is a grandma) has been using email and texting for years. Her dumbphone can't handle WhatsApp. She got added to her church's WhatsApp groups (or whatever they are using) and started getting notifications that there's a message, but she couldn't download the message, got frustrated, and felt left out. So now there's a designated person to paste the WhatsApp messages into a text so she can read it. Much easier.

In the education world, that would be known as an "accommodation"

[Heirbyadoption]

Can one of you enlightened ones speak to the poor benighted masses here regarding the privacy/encryption aspect of WhatsApp and the benefit thereof for mission work in countries where open communication to those of us here in the States is potentially risky?

[Josh]

Can one of you enlightened ones speak to the poor benighted masses here regarding the privacy/encryption aspect of WhatsApp and the benefit thereof for mission work in countries where open communication to those of us here in the States is potentially risky?

It is more private than SMS messages, so I guess this would apply in places like Russia and China (although WhatsApp doesn’t really work in China).

If security is highly important then a more robust protocol needs to be used. Signal and Session are both robust. So is using encrypted email like Protonmail. Telegram has some flaws that have not been corrected. I would avoid WhatsApp since Meta now has access to read your messages and could disclose them to third parties.

To be frank, if there is significant risk, a cybersecurity expert should be retained to provide specific guidance. (I am somewhat qualified to do so but might refer you to an even more qualified expert if the risks were really high.)