The story of the app began rather modestly. In 2009, the founder, Koum, saw possibilities for a promising business model in the still-young Apple App Store. His idea encompassed not only the sending of short messages, but also user status messages. He was of the belief that it’s practical to know what individual contacts are up to.
The development progressed rather slowly at first. Frequent app crashes and problems with the synchronization of phone numbers almost convinced Koum to throw in the towel. But Acton persisted. At that same time and by coincidence, Apple involuntarily gave the app the boost that it needed: Starting in June 2009, it was possible for app developers to use push notifications. WhatsApp users could then see right away when somebody changed their status.
The app eventually developed into an instant messaging service. It also played into the company’s hands that they had almost no competition. Next to Skype, there was no noteworthy competition except for Blackberry Messenger, which only functioned on Blackberry smartphones. With WhatsApp, on the other hand, one could not only reach people via text message at any time and from anywhere in the world, but could also send photos or voicemails.
For a long time, it’s been not only young people using WhatsApp. The ease of use that Koum aspired to has made the messenger service as attractive to all age groups as the developer had hoped. So it seems the actual goal was achieved: To develop an app that even people who didn’t grow up with computers or are unfamiliar with technology can use.