Comment: Why Whatsapp is horrible

Really?

Kicking off this Blog with something controversial: Saying Whatsapp is horrible. Check.
"How can you say that?" "But it's everybody's favourite messenger!"
- Well, everybody is wrong and here is why:

People love Whatsapp, because they constantly compare it to SMS. They say, in contrast to SMS, Whatsapp messages are free, even across several countries, you are not bound to the 160 character limit and you have smileys.
While that might all be true, isn't it true for any Instant messaging service out there? Yes, that's right, Whatsapp should not be compared to SMS, it should be compared to Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype, maybe even ICQ or AIM.

Real comparison to SMS

While SMS can be used on any old phone, Whatsapp will require you to have some kind of smartphone. An SMS will reach the other person instantly, as long as their phone is connected to their carrier's network, Whatsapp will require both people in the conversation to have a stable Internet connection (which in some regions is not the same as having some reception on your network) and even then it randomly takes its time to deliver messages. In contrast to text messaging, Whatsapp is not integrated into the operating system of your phone. This means, while you can ask Google Now to send an SMS to anyone in your address book, it will not do the same for Whatsapp, and the same goes for any voice command app.

So, can I use Whatsapp to send someone a quick text, if I'm gonna be 5 minutes late? No! The other person might not have a smartphone or they don't have a stable Internet connection (if they are on the move as well), or the message will be randomly delayed.

Its real competition

So, let's compare Whatsapp to its real competition here, shall we?
Every other messenger I can come up with allows me to use one account all my devices, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype, ICQ, AIM, Windows Live, what-have-you. Whatsapp doesn't. The account is bound to my SIM-card and phone number, pretty much the most antiquated concept to use in this day and age. This means, no Whatsapp on your Tablet, no Whatsapp on your Computer, no Whatsapp on your second phone.
While any other company goes and heads for the cloud, Whatsapp forces you to go local. Google recently introduced Notification sync, so all their services (which sync across any platform), so if you read a notification on any of your devices, it won't bother you again on the rest of them.
All of the other services sync as well and can be used from any device. They are regular online accounts and your data is where it belongs, online. Do the other services allow me to send smileys and pictures? Sure! Do they have a message cap or any fees? Absolutely not. They do the exact same thing, but better.

Person or card?

When it comes to communication in 2013, we should ask ourselves one important question: Am I trying to contact a person or a SIM card? As we previously clarified, every service treats me like a person and gets messages to me, no matter where I am. When people contact me, they shouldn't have to worry, if I'm on my private phone, work phone, tablet, notebook or desktop computer, they just want to reach ME, not a particular device. Often, I start chatting with somebody on my phone in Hangouts, and when a reply requires a lengthy explanation, I seamlessly switch to replying from my computer. The other person never has to know, they don't care. All they care about is that they reached me and get replies in a timely fashion, which is only possible because I can be reached on every device.

Its account model

I have been on the Internet for about 15 years now, I have had my fair share of accounts over the years, for dozens of forums, messengers, VoIP services, games and anything else that would require you to identify yourself. One thing they all had in common, was that I registered through a form with my email address and a password and after confirming said email address, I had full control of my account. Whatsapp doesn't go this route. You have no account security, you don't have privacy. Whatsapp scans your address book for other Whatsapp users, so your private data is uploaded and checked against a data base, so my Granny, who has never heard of the Internet, involuntarily has all her data stored on some Whatsapp server somewhere, without knowing about it. Can the user opt out of these practices or scan their address book selectively? No, of course not. Can I prevent others from uploading my data to this server and search for me? No. Everybody, who has my mobile number stored, now has the ability to contact me, no friendship request, nothing.

Why?

Why is everybody going ape-shit over Whatsapp then? It is exactly the account model that drives people to this service. There is no lengthy registration that requires you to fill out forms, confirm your email address and then leaves you with an empty window basically saying you have no friends. You install it, follow 3 simple steps and you are good to go, all your friends are there and you can start chatting. A quick start and good first impression helped Whatsapp gain success worldwide. The exact thing that annoys me seems to be great for everybody else, as long as they don't give a crap about their privacy.

Easy?

How easy does it actually have to be? Everybody and their mother managed to get a Facebook account going, including a lengthy registration form, confirming your email, and starting off with zero friends. So, is it really necessary to be the easiest to set up? Sure, a good first impression goes a long way, but with all these better alternatives out there, I think, people should motivate themselves to keep looking for a service that really suits their needs. And if you are willing to have your address book scanned for friends, storing an email address of your friends is exactly as easy as storing their phone number, and with that email address you can find them on any service.

Google Play and fees

Assuming most Android users downloaded Whatsapp from Google Play, people are bound to have a Google account, so they might as well use that account to communicate directly. Let's not forget one thing here: Whatsapp is not free! To begin, Whatsapp sends a text from your phone to your phone. This certainly is not expensive, but a stupid way to verify your number non the less. They might as well send the text from the Internet and just confirm its reception, that is what counts after all. If you tend to perform the occasional factory reset or flash a lot of roms, yet do not have Titanium Backup, you will encounter this registration text and its costs fairly often. Then there is the yearly fee. Again, at its current state it is not particularly expensive, but should Instant Messaging over the Internet cost anything? I already pay for the Internet connection! What is next, minute rates for Skype? Stamps for emails? This certainly sets a bad precedent and is heading in the wrong direction. And that price will only go upwards from here. When other services see that it works, that they can extract money from you after you are hooked, they will charge you as well.

What about the in-app payment? Google has certain rules and regulations when it comes to the Play Store. Sure, everything is a little more relaxed than on Apple's app store, but Google can be strict as well. For instance, if you want to publish your app on Google Play, you agree to not collect money behind Google's back. Wait a second! I have Whatsapp's Play Store version installed and it offers me to pay with Google Wallet or Paypal. Clear violation right there. They used Google's Play Store to get big, but when it comes to sharing their income with Google, who did all the marketing and distribution, they get creative.

And what about the account model? Isn't every app I buy and every in-app purchase tied to my Google Account and I can freely use it on all my devices as I please? Guess what, not your Whatsapp account. Since it is tied to the SIM card, you can use a premium purchase on only one device. Violation #2.

What about me?

Well, I do use Whatsapp from time to time, I paid the setup text fee about 50 times by now, have used the service for 3 years and was already prompted and paid for a year's extension. Does this make me a hypocrite? In a way, sure. But I don't use it because of the convenience reasons above, I use it despite them. I will take the time from my year's subscription to get everybody I contact frequently to transfer to another service, preferably Hangouts. Whatsapp has become a synonym for Instant messaging much like people call any wipe a Kleenex or your mother calls any gaming console a Nintendo. In this capacity, I often use Whatsapp as an argument to convince people, who are not at all tech-savvy, to get a smartphone in the first place. As soon as they got one, I try and steer them away from Whatsapp again.

Sometimes I ask myself, if I am the only person that sees the massive shortcomings of Whatsapp and if everybody was brainwashed from some marketing genius to constantly repeat "But it's better than SMS". I must have been home sick the day of that lecture.

Let me know in the comments, what you think about Whatsapp and if, just maybe, I got a point here.