Four Apps (Not So New) That Challenge WhatsApp Dominance… Outside Zimbabwe Of Course

WhatsApp is rapidly growing as a social platform, with millions of people around the world staying in touch through the communication channel. Latest reports from Ding go as far as to suggest that 56% of people see the app as their primary form of social media – staggering, given the relatively basic capabilities it possesses.

With those limitations in mind, could it be possible for anyone to challenge the dominance of WhatsApp in the coming years? We believe so. As such, here are four rivals to the popular app to watch out for in 2018.

• Kakao

This Korean app is growing in popularity amongst users in Asia, with it now being reported by Tech Crunch that over 40 million people are using the platform in South Korea and Japan alone. Having also raised $1 billion in revenue across the last year Kakao are now aiming for the stars.

They’re looking to use their soaring levels of wealth to fund the development of artificial intelligence, helping the still relatively new technology to advance further than its current boundaries.

• WeChat

This Chinese app is also on the up and up, with just shy of a billion people currently using it in Asia. Such is the popularity of this option, it’s even managed to cross the sea and become a regular download on the phone of Australian smart device users.

Interestingly, Sputnik News suggest there is mass concern on the part of the Aussie government at the moment as a result of this. The belief is spyware written into the coding of the app might be able to pick up state secrets. All very interesting and slightly alarming stuff.

• Line

Line is a Japanese creation. Which allows users to make calls and send messages totally free of charge. In typical Japanese style, you’ll also be able to send a series of stickers, which all have features akin to those of anime characters.

It also offers a Snapchat-type feature, which sees a sidebar appear with a list of relevant and popular new stories, tailored to your interests. You’ll also be able to send live video. Line is a threat to WhatsApp, owing to its seamless blend of all the things which have made the most popular messaging apps successful.

• Viber

Viber offers a similar package to WhatsApp, with the additional benefit of being able to make calls to different countries for specific flat rates, and for a designated period of time. Just some of the packages of this variety you’ll be able to buy include:

• Egypt – 70 minutes of call for $6.99
• India – 100 minutes of call for $1.99
• Poland – 100 minutes for $3.99
• Philippines – 100 minutes for $14.99

Along with this, you can also buy stickers and other additional features to send to your contacts. With over 900m users, this social networking app is clearly doing something good.

Are you going to try out any of these social media apps for yourself this year? WhatsApp may very well be on its last legs if any of these have their say. Maybe not in Zimbabwe though and we all know why….