Being asked to pay for Whatsapp

Mrsmoneypenny

Hello
My daughter, son, husband and myself all use Whatsapp and have done for a long time now. We are all in different countries so the money we have saved on text messages has been huge.
My daugher who is in UK has a message this morning to say that there is a now 69p charge to continue to us Whatsapp.
She used a txt message to let me know, then we Skyped and she mentioned it again.
She has not been able to use Whatsapp at all since she go this message through Whatsapp.
Has anyone else been asked to pay? 69p isnt a lot of money (its for a year) we just are not sure its a genuine message.
Thanks

TimBear

I recently had to update my app to the latest version before it'd let me use it again, but it didn't ask me to pay?

spacey2012

They thought they had a unique product and could charge.
Then facebook released a free messenger that trumps it, so they look to have backed away in to a corner to re-think.

Gordon_Hose

Is she using an iPhone?

balletshoes

I just downloaded WhatsApp last week, it does say on their website that its free for a year then they charge 69p per year to keep using it.

Tony5101

WhatsApp has always been free for 1year only.
Surely 69p is not a big deal to pay for a years service?!

Gordon_Hose

balletshoes wrote: »

I just downloaded WhatsApp last week, it does say on their website that its free for a year then they charge 69p per year to keep using it.

Yeah, that's what I just found out.

Although I've got an Android phone and never been charged.

macman

Android: it'll cease to function after one year, and you'll have to install the 69p version. I'd say that's a bargain.
It's 69p from the iTunes store, presumably because Apple want 30% of a revenue stream that's more than zero.

SavingSteve

Don't pay, the day before you're due to expire they always extend it for another month or two, well that's what happened to me (android user)

NFH

On the iPhone it's 69p as a one-off purchase, valid indefinitely. It is often reduced to zero for a week or so at a time, as shown in its price history. This is an unusual case of Android users paying more than iPhone users, the latter being widely perceived as having a higher propensity to pay for apps.

HurdyGurdy

I have just finished my year's free trial, and downloaded the upgrade that showed on my phone.

I then paid for five year's service (with hindsight, probably a mistake, but only a couple of quid, so no biggie). I paid via Paypal.

However, since then, I have been unable to send or receive messages via Whatsapp. Any idea what I have done? Or what I can do to restore it?

I have checked and I do have the mobile network thing checked, so it's not because I have no internet connection.

It's an Android phone, if that's relevant.