While overseas, I turned off data roaming on my mobile so I would not come home to a massive phone bill. The problem is, I needed to text family members and realised I could not do this while data roaming was off.
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WhatsApp is the perfect solution for communicating with friends and family all over the world from your mobile device. It is like texting, but works on any internet connection, and works on both iPhones and Android devices.
WhatsApp accesses your contacts and sends you push notifications, with your permission. You then enter your phone number as the app does not assign you a new number. Then you can name your phone and add a profile picture.
WhatsApp's interface is easy to use, with a bottom navigation bar for favourites, status, contacts, chats and settings. Favourites displays your contacts who use WhatsApp and offers the ability to invite contacts via mail, message Facebook or Twitter. Status lets you set a status like available, busy or in a meeting, or clear your status. Contacts lists all of your contacts.
As well as texts, WhatsApp lets you send photos, videos, audio notes, contacts and locations. WhatsApp also lets you send and receive phone calls; however, calls are placed through your mobile carrier.
WhatsApp makes it so easy to stay in touch with friends and family without having to pay for text messaging fees. It also has great multimedia and group chat support. The first year is free, and then it is only 99¢ annually on both iOS and Android.
Robert Morgan is the managing director at PIT Group.