WhatsApp Now Has Over 2 Billion Users Globally

WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app globally has now reached the two billion mark. WhatsApp also took this opportunity to highlight the messaging app’s end-to-end encryption and how users should trust it.

WhatsApp’s latest subscriber mark comes after the messaging app was known to have around 1.5 billion monthly active users. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the company’s last earnings call said around 2.3 billion people use at least one of its services daily. Zuckerberg did not explicitly mention how many users are on WhatsApp. Other Facebook services including Instagram and Messenger also have a similar userbase.

WhatsApp in its press release asserted on the messaging app’s end-to-end encryption.

“Strong encryption acts like an unbreakable digital lock that keeps the information you send over WhatsApp secure, helping protect you from hackers and criminals. Messages are only kept on your phone, and no one in between can read your messages or listen to your calls, not even us. Your private conversations stay between you,” WhatsApp said.

Ironically, WhatsApp has been facing privacy concerns in the past year with the app getting hacked on multiple occasions. These incidents also involved government officials and Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos.

WhatsAppis a widely available messaging app in almost all countries globally. The messaging app is also highly popular in India with over 400 million users. Facebook has also piloted its payment service in India which is currently in beta. After a successful trial with over 1 million users on WhatsApp Pay, Facebook plans to roll it out to more markets. The company also hopes to release the stable version of WhatsApp Pay to all its users in India.―Hindustan Times