WhatsApp Messenger for Android

As the app that Facebook recently bought for $19 billion, WhatsApp Messenger for Android justifies its worth by offering an almost free SMS service on mobile through an instantly accessible and appealing interface. This app makes chatting and video, image, and voice notes sharing on the go quick, effortless, and fun.

Pros

Awesome functionality: WhatsApp Messenger for Android enables you to share text messages with anyone on the globe so long as they use the app, without the need for usernames, passwords, or log-ins -- your phone number acts as your ID.
Inviting interface: Pretty, smooth, and accessible, the app's interface and the features its puts at your disposal, such as emoticons and straightforward multimedia sharing buttons make this app a joy to use.
Easy contact importing: Once you set up the app, it automatically scans your address book for other users who have the app on their device. No need to add contacts, manually.

Cons

Potential privacy issues: While the app makes it easy for you to connect with others, we feel that it doesn't give you enough control over who gets to see your messages. Moreover, in our tests, the Nobody option for the Last Seen feature, which should prevent others from seeing our activity, did not work.

Bottom Line

WhatsApp Messenger for Android stands out as a remarkable messaging app, probably the best around. You can use it as a replacement for the SMS function of your smartphone, chatting with your friends and family without any limit. As to cost, this app is free in the first year and then charges you only $1 a year, a fantastic subscription price considering that the app is ad-free.

Editors' Note: This is a review of the trial version of WhatsApp Messenger for Android 2.9.1547

Publisher's Description

From WhatsApp:

WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone and Nokia phones. WhatsApp uses your 3G or WiFi (when available) to message with friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages. Send Video, Images, and Voice notes to your friends and contacts. Your Address Book is used to automatically connect you with your contacts. Your contacts that already have WhatsApp Messenger will be automatically displayed. WhatsApp will save your messages offline until you retrieve them during the next application use.

What's new in this version: Version 2.9.1547 fixes for unable to send message when there are less than 7 days remaining of service.