Question re: Whatsapp

[skypilot]

I have a friend (my ex) who lives in California and has recently taken to bugging me about getting Whatsapp. We already talk on the phone, text, send each other pictures and occasionally talk using DUO. Now he is giving me crap for not having Whatsapp. He just texted me that I need to "tech up". I just got a smart phone a little under a year ago and, of course, he'd been on my case to get a smartphone before that. Now that I have one he acts as though that's not enough. I need MORE APPS to communicate with him. He is starting to irritate the shit out of me. What am I missing about this app that I can't do with the apps I have now? I am 54 and not a huge smart phone user

[jberryhill]

1. I'm mystified by it

If Whatsapp does something that ordinary sms built into the phone doesn't do, I'd like to know what it is.

It had a purpose before text messaging on the phone used the internet, so I guess maybe it makes a difference if the parties are using android phones and have limited data.

The point of whatsapp was that it used the internet connection instead of the cellular connection, so it wouldn't eat into your data allowance. But iphones already do that with the normal text messaging, and I thought there was some android equivalent of that functionality. Maybe not.

[skypilot]

6. I am not the most tech savvy person...

...but I really didn't/don't think this app is necessary for me and so far you guys have convinced me that I am right.

[pangaia]

28. I have a Samsung-- android.. no data charge for texting that I am aware of..

But I also use FB a lot for texting,, AND free phone calls anhwhere in the world.

Interesting- In addition to FB, My friends in Japan mostly use Viber.. those in Korea use KAKAO TALK, Europeans a lot of WhatsApp...

SO I have them all..
LOL

[silverweb]

2. I've refused to use it.

Unless you know what you're doing, using the app can reveal your location to other users. Could it be he's trying to trick you into letting him track your movements? It's just a chat app, much like any other, and nothing special. I'd tell him to stuff it and quit bugging you.

[skypilot]

4. When I googled about it...

...I came across a PROS and CONS article. One of the CONS was that other users could add you to "groups" and the you couldn't get out of them. As for him trying to track me, that's absolutely possible.

[silverweb]

7. Enough said.

I didn't know you couldn't get out of groups. Add that to the list of reasons to tell him to stuff it!

[skypilot]

10. According to the article...

...you can get out of a group BUT people in the group can just ADD you again. So, to me that is pretty much the same as not being able to get out.

[silverweb]

11. That's how I'd see it: Canceling your ability to choose.

Since Facebook owns Whatsapp, which I just learned here, I'd also be very suspicious about any personal information they could gather from it.

[skypilot]

13. And I disabled my Facebook page years ago.

*

[silverweb]

14. Good for you!

I've used FB mainly to catch up with friends/family who use it and also to follow reliable news sources in one place, but I haven't been on it since mid March and might as well disable my account, too. There are other ways just as good.

[silverweb]

33. Best to avoid it!

[pangaia]

29. Actually, I pretty much don;t care if somebody knows where I am...

That way, if I forget, they can tell me...

[silverweb]

32. LOL

I'll probably reach that stage, too, at some point in the not-too-distant future - but I'm not quite there yet!

[Historic NY]

3. Lots of warnings about it.

[OriginalGeek]

5. It's owned by Facebook

It was created for phones so it didn't have to adapt from a PC program. It identifies you by your phone number so anyone who knows your number and uses whatsapp can contact you. No character limits (like twitter), you can send and receive media (pictures, movies etc) and I think you can make a phone call through it with other users that also have it which comes in handy if you have wifi but no cell connection.

Lots of other apps do most of this and other things now too. I've never used it - my wife and I use Google's Hangouts mostly because it spans across platforms - on my PC at work or on my phone I can always see all our conversations. Can start a convo on one thing and move to another if needed.

And maybe this is why he's your ex? (lol, not trying to be an ass. Irritating people who badger me about shit don't generally get their way as I can be pretty stubborn. However there are people who irritate the shit out of me yet I love them still so it's good we speak rarely)

[skypilot]

8. Actually...

...crap like this IS one of the reasons he is my ex. I still care deeply about him but right about now I am so happy that we live on opposite coasts.

[Phoenix61]

9. Messages sent through the app can't be traced

I’m curious why an ex wants to send you anything that can’t be traced. I live by the rule if it makes me uncomfortable, the answer is no. Seems like you’re uncomfortable with his request, I’d stick with no.

[skypilot]

12. I have NO interest in tracing him...

...so I would be very puzzled if this was his reasoning. He is a lot more stalker-y than I am.

[Phoenix61]

15. It's not that you can trace him, it's that there is

is no record of the message being sent. If he wanted to harass you there would be no way to prove what he had sent. If he’s stalkerish I’d be really leery of this app.

[skypilot]

17. He is not really a stalker.

It's just that if that word were to apply to either of us it would be more fitting for him. "Clingy" is probably a more accurate word. And, right now, annoying.

[Skittles]

16. fuck that

if you don't want to do it, just tell him no

[yonder]

18. Don't do it.

No reason to complicate things. Someone's insistence otherwise would tend to annoy me.

-Luddite in training

[skypilot]

19. I'm just ignoring him...

...after he sent me the message telling me to "tech up". I'm as teched up as I need to be at the moment.

[Skittles]

20. tell him to shut the fuck - up

yes indeed

[skypilot]

21. Skittles

I should unleash you on him. That'll show him.

[Skittles]

22. I would not get that piece of shit AP

why do you even want to talk to that asshole via any method

f him

[skypilot]

23. He's not THAT bad but...

...he has his less than endearing moments. This is one of them.

[UTUSN]

24. "starting" to irritate you?!1 He's irritating me already!1

[skypilot]

25. My irritation is twofold.

He sent me a link to an article about Philadelphia water ice along with the message "This is where I found it".
I had no idea what he was referring to. I assumed he had sent me an earlier text that I somehow didn't get. When I suggested this to him he brought up the WhatsApp business again.
He never did tell me what he was referring to in his text. That is the other thing that irritates me. It's as though he thinks I should get the app before he fills me in. If a text somehow fell between the cracks he could resend it or just tell me what the hell he was talking about the next time we talk on the phone. I am not downloading an app to solve the mystery.

[UTUSN]

30. This is me, I don't continue a relationship if the communication is *zilch*.

Fairly much, for me, if there are glitches from the start, it ain't never gonna get better (for me) and (for me) forgit the "counseling" stuff.

I have had friends with this kind of fraught relationship, some of them with kids. And I've asked, why don't you two just go your separate ways?

And the answer has been, "Because he or she is the parent of my children!1"

Welp, nothing I can respond to that.

Just saying that as soon as a so-called relationship shows these kind of continuous and controlling cracks, it's over (for me).

[skypilot]

31. I get you.

The thing is that our communication is at not "zilch" level but he is a bit thick. And a little manipulative. Just part of why he's my EX.

[dem4decades]

26. We have friends out of country and it's great for us to use to keep in touch.

My wife and i use it here instead of messaging. Let's us share videos of stupid stuff easier which some of the other apps won't.

[skypilot]

27. We have been texting and...

...sharing videos just fine so I really don't know what he's on about. I also have Gmail which I get on my computer and phone, so I don't see what the advantage would be for me to get this app. I am just irritated (there's that word again) at the idea of having to jump through a hoop to communicate with someone who I have been communicating with just fine.

[a kennedy]

34. ha ha ha.......I misread it as waaasupp, and started laughing.....because it was that

advertisement "waaasupp".

. always makes me laugh.

.

[skypilot]

35. I went to high school with...

...the guy in the red sweater in the Budweiser commercial. His name is Chuck. His father used to be a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.

[a kennedy]

40. Cool.......

[HipChick]

36. you need to tech up..

My 82 mother has a smart phone, she Whatsapp,Duo, messenger the heck out it..lords knows if I don't pick up and answer in time, she prob has a location tracker installed on my phone to see where I am
So yeah, you have no excuse..if she can learn it...

[skypilot]

37. It is not a question of learning it.

It is about whether I want it or feel the need for it at the moment. I don't. I have DUO and Messenger too. That is enough for me for now.

[HipChick]

38. Just joshing with ya..

I have an IT background, over 20yrs, and I really just want to use my smartphone for phone calls...

[skypilot]

39. Sorry. I couldn't quite tell.

I only just bought a smartphone last year for travel. All I was interested in was Google maps, Uber, and the camera. The fact that I can also talk to people with it is just kind of a bonus.