WhatsApp

Why does WhatsApp drain so much phone battery?

Scarcity makes us pay more attention to details. A clear reflection of living with limited resources, one of the things that has intrigued me is the tiny battery capacity of my phone.

It wasn’t the biggest when it was new and, four years later, reduced to ~82% of its original capacity and more demanded by major annual software updates, it now requires some planning on the days I know I’ll be away from power outlets for long stretches.

It’s not quite a problem because I work from home. Still, sometimes I find myself playing battery babysitter.

(more…)

RCS, SMS via the internet, is good, but that doesn’t matter

In 2024, Apple made a gesture of goodwill to European regulators and opened iOS 18 to RCS, the evolution of the old SMS. Great, but too late.

RCS, which stands for Rich Communication Services, is SMS via the internet with all the benefits that come with this improvement, such as support for high-quality images, read receipts, typing indicators, and audio messages.

In other words, it is the “WhatsApp version” of SMS.

(more…)

Is it possible to live without WhatsApp?

Let's get straight to the point: living without Instagram, Facebook, and Threads (lol) is easy. The only setbacks I can think of are missing out on Facebook Marketplace listings and the lack of information about restaurants, cafes, and clinics that insist on limiting their digital presence to Instagram. It's inconvenient, but workable.

In many parts of the world outside the US, the “big boss” of those who decide to get rid of Meta is WhatsApp. And how could it not be? Some research on phone habits shows that up to 99.1% of Brazilians over the age of 16 use the messaging app. Here, it is ubiquitous; the standard means of communication for many people and companies.

(more…)