I am new to WP8 and recently converted from Android. I use Whatsapp messenger to chat with all of my friends. But the app really sucks on WP8. Is there going to be an overhaul or even an update?
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I am new to WP8 and recently converted from Android. I use Whatsapp messenger to chat with all of my friends. But the app really sucks on WP8. Is there going to be an overhaul or even an update?
I've not used WhatsApp*, but I just installed it and it looks OK. Why do you say it sucks?
EDIT: *on Windows Phone 8, I've used it on my old iPhone 4.
He is right, WhatsApp is severely lacking in comparison to the Android and iOS versions. But have hope, it is pretty clear that this version of WhatsApp has not been updated/optimized much for WP8 so there may be a decent update coming in the future.
"lacking in comparison" != "sucks"
What's app is slow anyways.
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ive been using it for the last week or so.. its slow at times but really not that bad. still very usable!
Give it time. There have been posts and screenshots of a WP8 Whatsapp update, which will hopefully solve the stability issues. I would love for a Whatsapp update to add additional features that iOS and Android have, but we'll see.
It does in this scenario. For someone who has never used WhatsApp before you seem to be highly opinionated on the app you never use.
Suggestion: stick to commenting on topics that you can add intelligent and informed comments on rather than spewing garbage.
I asked GomzyRockz why he or she said the app sucks, so that I could investigate his or her concerns on my own. For someone to whom my question was not addressed you seem to be mouthing off quite a bit. Suggestion: butt out of questions not directed at you.
My previous post had a quote from you directly copying something I had said. You dragged me into it, not vice versa.
You replied first but I dragged you into it? You're funny, I remember when I had my first beer. :D
Your reading comprehension must be that of a third grader, my first post in this thread was a direct reply to the OP, not yours. I then proceeded to address you AFTER your witty remark towards my post. Not everything in this world revolves around you. Regardless, you look like a fool and I'll just stop here because I'm not sure if you are seriously this stupid or trolling (I'm kidding I know its not a troll, just making it look like I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt).
"Yeah, he's right" is a reply to him? LOL! Are you ESL or something?
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Could you please link the screenshots I'm curious.
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So, GomzyRockz, back to my original question to you: I've not used WhatsApp on WP8 yet; why do you say the app sucks?
Images of WhatsApp for Windows Phone 8 leaked early on the web | Windows Phone Central
Here you go. Note by the extra stuff seen in the "..." expanded menu in a conversation that this is definitely not the current build.
While I am doubtful, yet hopeful for a "email conversation" option, I do hope it will solve the lag and stability problems seen with the current Whatsapp build.
My personal thoughts to the abyss as to why WP whatsapp sucks currently:
1) crashes if you try to go "too far back" in the history of a conversation. sometimes, i just can't recall a stupid detail but i can't get to it anymore. (albeit this is on the current build with a WP7.5 phone, so maybe this magically doesn't happen with WP8. I haven't had enough chat history yet on my L920 to test this).
2) no email conversation option, which would negate the crashing. I would very much welcome this feature, which I assumed would be there when I switched from Android.
3) sharing location or contact (hopefully on the next build, if the screenshots are indicative)
I moved from windows phone to android (My sabbatical) I can tell you that what's app on windows phone is seriously lacking.
In what, exactly, is it lacking?
It really does. I'm in the same boat, just switched from a Nexus, never used iOS version, but I can tell you Android/iOS version is leaps and bounds better than WP8.
WP8 version isn't just "lacking", it's down right bug ridden. If you put an Android phone and WP8 phone side by side, 9 out of 10 times WP8 will pull down messages with a non-trivial delay.
The live tile does essentially nothing. In Android, if you open Whatsapp and go to the message list, but don't go into the actual tread, it will still be treated as unread, and the notification will remain in the notification area. If you swipe it away but don't read it, it will reappear in the notification area after a certain period of time to remind you, e.g. 30 minutes or something. In WP8, once you open the app, it's gone. I imagine the number bubble in iOS will also remain unless you actually read it.
Notifications are a total hit and miss, some times they come up, some times they don't at all, and you need to manually open the application to get it to pull messages, and then out of nowhere 30 notifications come jumping out and the phone doesn't even have enough time to stop between vibrations.
Then comes actual messaging. I have experienced more than enough times where the massage will not send, or at least appear that way with a ( / ) crossed out icon. I need to back out, i.e. close (not suspend by hitting "home"), of Whatsapp and re-open it to get it to send.
And sharing. This is probably more of a WP8 issue than a Whatsapp issue, I'm not sure. In Android, you can select "send picture", and choose images from practically any installed application that has images, i.e. Dropbox, Gallery, File Explorer, and god forbid even Skydrive (which is actually pretty nice on Android too, albeit a bit slow on loading content). But on WP8, you can't even attach images from MSFT's own SkyDrive, which is pretty sad.
But yeah, those are a few things I have complaints about.
I like the phone, but developer support is still lacking at the moment, that's a fact.
Edit: And if I'm not mistaken Whatsapp is not yet updated for WP8, which is probably what the leak was about. That might be the problem, time will tell. At the moment, it's terrible.
whatsapp is a battery killer, i finally uninstalled yesterday, cant take it anymore.
Also messages are delayed all the time especially on wifi, using on data instead of wifi is much better, go figure.
Other than being a bit slow. What do you mean by " lacking " ?
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read the 2nd post above you. and it's not a 'bit' slow. it's slow as ****
Ok so stop using it and find an alternative. There are a few out there. Group me works the same way.
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Mine is slow. When you receive a message, the phone will bleep and a notification will appear at the top but when you open whatsapp, the message doesn't come up for up to a minute, which kind of takes out the Instant in Instant Messaging
Huh? Do you even know what this app is? It's to contact OTHER people. You might find an alternative, but good luck forcing others to shift to it when their platform has a perfectly fine running version of the same app
Not sure about the US but i dont see a point in an app like this. Alot of UK carriers now push most contracts with unlimited or near unlimited text's. its adding a 3rd party app to something that imho isnt required.
It's not the same as texting, and world + dog use whatsapp
Good for picture sending prefare Facebook messenger or good old texting
It's to contact international friends. Not everyone uses facebook, Kik, Skype, etc. Whatsapp is a large part of texting for certain parts of the world, such as Hong Kong. If you aren't contacting friends abroad then you won't see a need. For some of us, having this ability to text with family or an old friend is a nice part of today's world. And no, we aren't convincing 40 people to change platforms just so they can contact us when their entire network is on Whatsapp.
The issue the OP brought up is specifically related to Whatsapp. Let's be honest and admit there are shortcomings to the WP version relative to iOS/Android.
Having used Whatsapp extensively on Android, I can surely say that the app needs some TLC on the windows platform. Mainly, I get all the messages very late. Once I do, whatsapp takes me to the current message, but on the Android, I could read from where I left of. So say if I missed 30 messages, I have to start scrolling up, and it takes forever !!
Moreover, the interface is really not upto Windows standard. I mean the interface on ANdroid is terrific, we can change the wallpapers, attach videos(video option is there, but doesnt do anything for me on my L920)
I don't use the app, but was curious why it sucked so bad, but by the time I got part way through all of the bickering and personal attacks, I was to the point that I didn't want to finish reading to get to the end of the story. So I'm only left with one question. Since it sucks so bad, did someone bother to contact the developer with a list of suggestions (since he's the only one who can fix it or tell you if a fix is in the works)?
I wonder if the developer checks back once in a while and reads some of the reviews the app received.
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He may, he may not. The only way to be sure that he's getting the message is to reach out to him yourself. I promise, he won't bite you.
Of course. Whatsapp is fairly popular and a number of us users emailed or otherwise contacted the team.
The 2.8.2 build was supposed to address the stability problems, but it did not completely solve them from 2.8. It was a massive improvement from 2.8, which would just freeze and crash all over the place for no reason. One can only hope the stability issues will continue to be worked out in future builds. They are aware of the issues though.
The other niceties like sharing have been brought up and likely will be addressed in a future build. The inability to email or otherwise save conversations was supposedly due to the the nature by which WP7.5 stores app information. Whether this is something a WP8 build will be able to address has not been answered.
...hard. :)
Anyway, as near as I can tell - and I am really, truly interested - WhatsApp "sucks" on WP8 because it's slow. To me, response time does appear to be slower on the WP8 version than on the iPhone version (at least, what I remember of the iPhone version, AT&T took my iPhone as a trade-in) but I wouldn't say that it sucks. It's just slow. Am I missing something?
yeah because SMS messaging = instant messaging? No, I think not, not even by a country mile.
You say it isn't instant it must be out by seconds....that really important?
Whatsapp is very popular here in Asia along with Line. Though Line has gained more popularity these days because it's free on iOS and you don't have to give out your number to add your booty call to your friends list.
I am coming from a Blackberry device and Whatsapp is horrible on WP8. Here are the issues I currently have with it:
1. App hanged on me once last night, I've been on WP8 less than a week. Once it hanged, I tried reloading it by tapping the tile from the home screen and still no cigar. In the end I had to turn off and start my phone again for it to be solved.
2. Often times toast notifications are shown and keep coming, even when I swipe to the right to get rid of it, it just keeps coming back.
3. Sometimes when I have messages waiting and I open the app, the messages are not shown, so basically it looks like I have no new messages, and I have to back out of the app and then reload it for the new messages to show up.
Those are the current issues I have with the app, they have happened a few times with the exception of the app hang which has only happened once.
Not to mention the app is quite slow, but I'm not too worried as the app has not be made for WP8 yet, but I do expect them to make it a lot streamlined and easier to use with the new version.
Yeah it does suck. It is useable though for some reason. Normally bugs like that would **** me off but the OS is fluid enough that I don't mind backing out and opening it again. I hope they fix it though before it finally starts to bug me.
Sweetness! Just after this little thread, Whatsapp released 2.8.8 today for WP7.5.
Email Conversations is finally available! Edit: Though in a test, it truncates an emailed conversation to the last 346 messages in the conversation...
This non-WP8 optimized update should show up shortly enough in the WP8 store.
I couldnt handle whatsapp any longer, thing is a battery killer and messages get hung up on wifi. When using the app, my phone gets really hot, nothing causes my phone to get hot like whatsapp.
Hopefully they update and optimize it better cuz right now it sucks. So out you go.
ON windows phone 7, the app worked fine, but the two subsequent updates on wp7, made it bad and it continues to be on wp8.
True.. Whatsapp on windows phone 8 is worse than wp7... And probably any other version of whatsapp on any other OS..
1. Keeps crashing..
2. Problem with sending photos.
3. Problems with sending and receiving messages. Sometimes not going through.
The only issue I've experienced is the bug with receiving messages, hitting the notification, and then new messages NOT coming up until i go BACK to the start screen, and do the process again.
It's not constant, it's once in a while, so it has't killed my mind YET! I've also used WhatsApp on iPhone, and it was good...however, I'm just glad we have it on WP8, and that it works! Other than that, isn't really bugging me TOO much.
Whatsapp is still not avaible in wp8 store
it's worked so far on my 920, but why couldn't they have the same interface as iOS? It just looked much better on an iphone, messages were time and date stamped, wp8 seems just to tell me 1 hour ago, 1 day ago...
You can try Wechat from China
whatapp on Blackberry is good, wp's sucks
Because as windows phone users we like to be different or the developer is just lazy.
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Whenever a Whatsapp user asks me about Windows Phone, I immediately tell him that Whatsapp is not yet stable on it. I know this is bad for Windows Phone's userbase but nothing is worse for a userbase than people who get on it and start having major issues with their apps.
Windows Phone right now is really only good for WLM and Facebook junkies. All other IM is pretty much absent or really buggy like Whatsapp. Kik seems to be nearly trouble-free for people on WP though.
I like to think we are a bit more than that. We have integration!
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The problem with that is that you have to wait for Microsoft to fix issues rather than allowing other companies's app to plug into the OS and be updated by those 3rd party companies.
That doesn't seem like an issue when half the developers dont give a crap.
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If you work somewhere that has like 20 or more devices connected to wifi at once, do not use this app. I was trying to figure out why some days my battery life is great while some days it drains 40 percent in an hour or two. Then I realized that Whatsapp was the only app I downloaded and the battery drain would happen when I had Whatsapp messages I couldn't view because of the crappy wifi connection.
So either use whatsapp with data only or turn off wifi if it sucks. Hopefully they update it soon.
Lacking in comparison means it is not as good, like DVDs and Blu rays.
Sucks means it is garbage without regard to what else is out there, like Apple Maps.
WhatsApp drains the battery ? Is it wifi specific? Did you test it ?
I know we got the update, but did anything change? I cant seem to find any difference.
I agree with almost all the points....would also add that the emoticons on Whatsapp are a waste...they showup as something else, and when sent, turn out to be something else :eck:.... also, cannot share any pictures after the (useless/broken) update...
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To me its the first time that I actually got to use WhatsApp and it is very responsive, snappy and fast. Wish it had live tiles and screen notification. Very impressed with the app so far.
When I used iPhone, I was a heavy user of whatsapp with my friends having iphone or android. It was very fast and didnt affect battery drain.
Now, I installed it on my lumia 920 when it became available a few days ago, and after two days of use, I uninstalled it, because it was graphically horrible and seemed to cause battery drain.
I noticed that when you start whatsapp, the music player starts. I googled and it seems that the app is mimicking as a music player so it can stay online and running in background. This is probably why the battery drains faster. Try to use the volume up/down button when whatsapp is running in background. you will notice that the volume toast will contain media control with empty song information...
Anyone noticed all the Nokia tweets yesterday claiming they helped Whatsapp with the new app? That worries me because I thought they were working on a totally revamped app like they announced, not that PoS.
Whatsapp on WP8 is horrible, a shadow of the version I had on iOS.
Needs a serious update ASAP.
Ouch. I am now more worried than ever for to buy a WP8. My HTC 8S was in the pipeline...i use whatsapp heavily too(wife, friends etc). Dont want to give them a reason to think I am ignoring them...heh!
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Everyone I know uses it and I used it on my iPhone and previous Android phones. It doesn't suck on WP8 but it does lack some features. Right now I'd be happy if they let us press enter to send, add lock screen notification and for some reason I can't send screenshots.
I had no idea that was being caused by Whatsapp. Either way I can't uninstall it since I heavily rely on it to talk to friends/family.
If you are a heavy Whatsapp user my advise would be to wait with making the jump to WP8 as it is still some way back behind the iOS and BB version (Android I don't know about). Too often I receive a message a good few minutes after it was sent to me, whereas on my iPhone it was always more or less instantaneous.
I suggest the dissatisfied users send feedback to the developer.
I did, their response was hilarious (obviously no one bothered, I just got an automated one).
Can't you just fire your Windows Phone
developer(s)? This is getting embarrassing, people get a bit more frustrated
after each update. Don't you read the feedback? If you're not going to take the
platform seriously, why are you bothering? There are plenty of very talented
Windows Phone developers, hire one!Hi,
Thanks for contacting WhatsApp. Our support
team has received your request (# 3297117). Please check the following before
proceeding:
1. First and foremost, please make sure
that you are using the latest version of WhatsApp from Marketplace: WhatsApp | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
2. Have you read our FAQ? Please
visit:
WhatsApp :: Faq
3. If you are having problems connecting to
WhatsApp, please be sure to read this article:
WhatsApp FAQ - I cannot connect to WhatsApp on my Windows Phone!
If you still have problems or questions
after these steps, please respond to this email and we will do our best to help
you.
Thanks!
WhatsApp Support Team
Yes that's an automated response. If you reply to that email they will reply back to you. I've sent them 2 or maybe 3 emails and they've replied back.
Hmm..thanks man. Android too is instant. In fact its faster than SMS. I am now in a fix. Just when I thought its the right time...Bam!
Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
Does WhatsApp have a desktop client?
...it seems to me that if it did, *then* they'd be on to something. Right now, I'm of the "mobile-messaging-like-WhatsApp-is-redundant" camp, but if they had a desktop client? I might be interested in using it.
Not looking for a debate, just thinking. :)
That would be awesome...more like iMessage which is on Mountain Lion as well as iPhone...
Wondering of there are any other alternatives?
Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
I deleted whats app off my 920 shortly after installing it mostly due to reasons posted here.
1. Battery drain was horrendous
2. When typing there was a lag of a least 1 to 2 seconds before it caught up
3. Messages where hit and miss when received.
Very poor application and I hope some whats app dev's are reading this thread and will do something about it.
Has any one tried contacting the WhatsApp team?
Sent from my RaZr on MIUI.
interesting reading through this, i have no issues with this app on the 820 at all. infact i think it is excellent.
While I feel WhatsApp on WP8 is far better than what it is on 7.5, it still has a long way to go to catch up with the iOS and Android versions.
Also, I hope they remove that background audio service in their next update. That thing sucks battery like ****.
Whatsapp sucks period. There are plenty of other good alternatives out there. Just get your friends on to those, and spread the word about alternatives.
No, it only sucks on WP. So convincing people to use something else just because of us screwed up WP users isn't gonna fly.
Clearly you have different standards then. I've used Whatsapp on ALL platforms, and it sucks on every platform, in different ways. On some platforms it causes weird bugs and crashes, and on most platforms it is a big battery hog. That's not to mention the numerous security holes that Whatsapp is plagued with. Doesn't matter if its iOS, Android, Symbian, WP, Blackberry etc ... every platform that you load Whatsapp onto, it usually causes some sort of issues.
Kik Messenger is objectively better, and is one of the best alternatives out there.
My friends are all using it on iOS and Android and I'm the only one experiencing weird issues. I'm not denying Kik is better (although they have to sort out the notifications/live tile) but asking 50 friends to move over because I'm the only one with a sh*t Whatsapp makes zero sense.
Recommending Kik is not such a bad thing, and yes it does make some sense because Kik has a lot less problems than Whatsapp, but to each their own I guess.
WhatsApp works brilliantly on iOS and Android. Dunno what you've been using.
Agreed!!! I just sold my iPhone4s and purchased a Lumia 920. The hardware device is great but the OS/Apps are somehow disappointing...
As for Whatsapp, it obviously works much better on iOS than WP8.
1. On WP version, I can not choose not to download the pictures automatically.
2. On WP version, I can not broadcast messages.
These two are big drawbacks urgently need improvement.
As for slow response, not sure if it is an issue with the OS...or whatsapp...so...
It works better than on Windows Phone but on Android there's disconnections from time to time, the app is not Holo-compliant, it drains your battery more than most apps, doesn't fully support Jelly Bean notifications, and has issues with delayed messages and throwing 4-5 messages at a time when it catches up.
This times a million.
for those who have issue with realtime notification of the messages, try to soft reset the phone. i had some issues with whatsapp (like the new msg counter not refreshing, msgs not arriving in real time) and after a soft reset, these problems seemed to be gone now... somebody can confirm?
You can.
Most guys on this forum who have jumped the ship haven't really done the home work.
Tap ...
Settings
Swipe either side, one of the screen has those switches.
A switch for automatically download pic on and off is there.
Mine are off.
Yes,more than once.
They aren't interested in applying any more resources on WP. Not as much as on iOS or Android anyway.
Devs dont care. This is the most incompetent team of devs for any app on any platform.
Yes there are.
Windows Live Messenger, soon to be Skype Messenger
AND
Facebook Messenger.
Both built in on WP and Windows 8
What country are you from??
It is available since a few weeks now.
The dev doesn't care.
I have received three replies so far. Each clearly stating they don't have enough resources to support WP the way we like them to. But maybe in future.
Email convo is already there.
Also in the newer version, the UI is messed up if you are using light theme. In dark theme you can see an ugly grey box in chat bubble.
no. there is option to choose not to save the picture to phone automatically. pictures are always automatically downloaded though not saved.
Running the WhatsApp client causes my phone to get hotter than playing games or using Netflix is, so the battery drain is crazy. I cannot turn off notifications either, the settings doesn't change anything for me.
Don't think that's true. Pictures aren't downloaded automatically. Pictures appear and then when you tap on it, it starts downloading them so that you can open a full size picture. This only occurs when you have switched off auto-save. Once you manually download picture, you can tap ... and then "save to phone".
I tried this app the other day after an Android user friend of mine mentioned it. I have to say it's the crappiest app I've used yet on WP7 (I have a Lumia 900), and mostly for one reason, the fake streaming audio workaround. That this non-music app takes over the music player UI is unforgivable, and with the rigorous restrictions MS has for how an app is supposed to behave, I can't believe this is allowed.
That's in addition to it crashing, not being able to get notifications in lock screen, draining the battery, etc. Just a horrible app. I feel bad for anyone that is used to using this and moves to WP from Android or iOS. I hope Whatsapp can fix these issues.
Yeah that's an important question nobody has asked. Why does Microsoft allow one of the top paid apps from competing platforms to work in a way that degrades the user experience so much? You'd think Microsoft would put this app on priority status and assign somebody to make sure apps like this are implemented on WP perfectly.
agree with MikeSo - the interference with the music player is super annoying, if I pause a track and then reply to a whatsapp message 5 mins later, pause place is lost. to be honest on the iphone its pretty cack as well - I once got a message 2 days after it was sent.
I've never had anything that bad on Android or iOS. The most I've seen is a message that was delayed by a couple of minutes, and even that is rare.
Personally I think it might be due to the fact that I have very few people on my Whatsapp compared to other people since I only use Whatsapp to talk to friends and family overseas.
Never had a problem with it on iOS. On WP it is absolutely atrocious. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such a lame effort.
I cant send screenshots to people :(