[aianus]

I resent them because Whatsapp is terrible, terrible software compared to Facebook Messenger yet somehow made $19B.

1. No web interface, I'm forced to use a tiny mobile keyboard

2. Identity tied to my phone number which changes every month

3. Ugly (subjective)

4. My friends are already on Facebook, why have another service that does the same thing but worse.

5. No chat bubbles.

6. No meme search

I could go on and on. They just got lucky and hit the lotto with foreigners who couldn't afford decent phones and are now locked in to their platform.

Edit: formatting

[sheepmullet]

> 1. No web interface, I'm forced to use a tiny mobile keyboard

Not a problem for most people. On the other hand it works well on pretty much every phone out there. In comparison Facebook messenger runs terribly on my iPhone 4. I'd hate to try and use it on a lower end android phone.

> 2. Identity tied to my phone number which changes every month

I've had the same phone number for over 10 years. Everybody understands and is familiar with phone numbers and have been for a long time. My 70 year old mother has no problems using whatsapp. Many more people have my phone number than have my email address.

> 4. My friends are already on Facebook

Good for you. Many of my friends aren't. Most of my family and relatives aren't. I'm thinking of leaving it myself as it's just a big time waster.

> I resent them because Whatsapp is terrible, terrible software compared to Facebook Messenger yet somehow made $19B.

Except it's really only bad for your particular use case. For most people Facebook messenger was late to the party and doesn't have any real draw.

Facebook messenger still doesn't have basic functionality I want. For example if I scroll to a particular point in a chat conversation and later come back to the conversation FB Messenger has not kept my scroll position. Basic basic usability problems.

[aianus]

> For most people Facebook messenger was late to the party and doesn't have any real draw.

Facebook Messenger has been around since the launch of Facebook. I've personally been using it over 7 years in various forms. WhatsApp is the one that was late to the party.

> On the other hand it works well on pretty much every phone out there.

Of course it does, because it has no features. You can't send money with it, you can't send stickers or GIFs, you have to physically open the app to send a message, it doesn't have link previews, and so on and so forth.

[sheepmullet]

> Facebook Messenger has been around since the launch of Facebook. I've personally been using it over 7 years in various forms.

And it was a crap experience on mobile until it was pulled out of Facebook into its own app.

> Of course it does, because it has no features.

It has the most important features for good individual and group chat.

> you can't send stickers or GIFs

That's a feature.

> you have to physically open the app to send a message

I'm not sure what that means. I have to open the FB Messenger app too? Maybe it's different on android.

> it doesn't have link previews

Again another point in whatsapps favor. I hate link previews in FB Messenger.

> You can't send money with it

Not really much of a feature because of all the setup involved. It's got potential and if it could tie in with the host operating system or payment providers etc on mobile it could be really great.

[Shorel]

Number 4 means you don't have to use the service at all, and no one is forcing you.

The only reason I use Whatsapp is for contacts that don't have Skype (even your fancy Facebook is too new and webby for me).

Video calls are a must for me, but they seem to be a thing of the past now.

[aianus]

Of course nobody is forcing me, it just boggles my mind that they have any market share at all. It feels like watching a six year old randomly throw paint at a canvas and selling it at auction for $50 million.

[Shorel]

What boggles my mind is that MS could have it all but simply neglected Messenger until it died.

WhatsApp success is built more on MS failure than anything else.

[the_af]

> 1. No web interface, I'm forced to use a tiny mobile keyboard

No idea how recent this is, I discovered it a couple of weeks ago: https://web.whatsapp.com/

[biokoda]

Why does your phone number change every month?

[aianus]

Because I travel a lot and use local SIM cards.

[conorgdaly]

Whilst abroad, I've used foreign sim cards in my phone and all Whatsapp does is prompt to keep the existing number or change to new number.

[aianus]

But how do you tell people to add you on WhatsApp? I don't even know my phone number. Phone numbers are a poor replacement for email addresses or usernames.

Edit: not to mention the security implications of having authentication tied to one's phone number. Any telecom employee, foreign government agent, or skilled social engineer can impersonate one on WhatsApp reasonably easily.