Whatsapp has designed a new version of its messaging app for Reliance Industries-owned 4G feature phones. The new version of the popular social media app will work on JioPhone’s KaiOS operating system
and will lead to “fast and reliable messaging” and will have the “ability to send photos and videos — all end-to-end encrypted”, for JioPhone customers, the two companies in a joint statement on Monday.
and will lead to “fast and reliable messaging” and will have the “ability to send photos and videos — all end-to-end encrypted”, for JioPhone customers, the two companies in a joint statement on Monday.
Whatsapp, which has 1.5 billion people globally on its platform with India its largest user market with 200 million active monthly users, will be available on the JioPhone AppStore starting September 10, and will be rolled out on all JioPhones by September 20.
“During this movement of connecting the unconnected, many partners came forward to strengthen the cause. One such partner who has really stood by us from the beginning is Facebook and its ecosystem,” Akash Ambani, director of Reliance Jio Infocomm, said in the statement.
Jio has two sets of featurephones - Jio Phone and its upgraded version, JioPhone 2, which was launched recently. These phones are targeted at the 500 million consumers who are not on smartphones yet. The operator's basic JioPhone sold more than 25 million in one year and both versions have other social media features like Facebook and YouTube.
“By designing this new app for KaiOS, we hope to expand the ability for people to communicate with anyone in India and around the world by offering the best messaging experience possible to JioPhone users,” Chris Daniels, vice president, Whatsapp, said.
