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Post by Rajiv on Oct 23, 2012 14:10:09 GMT 8
I'm a relative latecomer to WhatsApp, but I've been using it extensively over the past month and I've noticed a couple of idiosyncrasies: * WhatsApp automatically detects who has installed WhatsApp linked to their contact number. There were players who showed up as having WhatsApp to whom I was sending messages but who weren't receiving them. When I checked with them, I found that they didn't have WhatsApp on their device, although they may have installed it on a previous device. I don't know if WhatsApp messages are using up their quota of data or incurring data charges even though they are not receiving the messages. * Following on from the above, if you change numbers, and re-install WhatsApp with the new number, WhatsApp continues to detect both your old number and new number. Therefore, anyone who subsequently takes on your old number might continue to have WhatsApp linked to the number, even if they know nothing about it. It may not be a problem for you if someone else takes on your old number, but what if you take on someone else's old number, which has WhatsApp linked to it? Anyone got any answers? Anyway, I finally figured out that I had to check when they were last on, as shown when you connect to a contact. If it is somewhat long ago (more than a couple of weeks perhaps), then it would appear they are no longer on WhatsApp (if they ever were). I believe the "last seen" information is accurate. The "last seen" date/time is also using in informing whether the other person has received your message. On the other hand, the "last seen" information is not available when I create a group or broadcast, so if I need to check, I have to create an individual connection. |
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Post by Foo Cheong on Oct 24, 2012 8:24:09 GMT 8
WhatsApp requires a data plan or, in the absence of a data plan, wifi. I do not have a data plan for my phone, and can use WhatsApp only in the environment of my office or home where there is wifi.
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Post by Rajiv on Dec 20, 2012 22:57:35 GMT 8
I had a prompt to reinstall WhatsApp on my Android phone, so I did, and it didn't interrupt my access. Several people seem to have lost their access. Blackberries seem worst affected. I have been informed that iPhone users have to reinstall a paid version. A one-time payment of USD1.99? Something like that. Not much I guess. I create WhatsApp group chats mainly from my computer. Sometimes, when I leave my computer behind, but I need to continue to have access to the group chat, I add my mobile to the group. It appears only the creator of the group can add parties to the group. However, when I exit and delete the group from my computer, the group still exists, and I can continue to access it from my mobile. Seems strange that when the person who creates the group exits and deletes the group, it continues to exist. |
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Post by Rajiv on Feb 22, 2014 8:46:15 GMT 8
The WhatsApp has grown to be an important part of the GIFFA System. Under the "Pre-game protocol, cancellations & weather policy" section: Pre-game protocol, cancellations & weather policyImmediately after I create the team selecto/captain poll, I create a WhatsApp group chat with all the players in for the game. I inform them that the payment information and poll have been added, and provide the link. If there are any withdrawals, I add the replacement to the group chat, and inform the group of the replacement. When the poll closes, I inform the group of the outcome of the poll. If I have the time, I will inform players not on WhatsApp of the creation of the poll and the outcome of the poll by SMS. .... After the WhatsApp group chat is created, all updates should be on the group chat, especially after I add both my numbers to the group chat. I may only be available on one of the two numbers at any time, so if you message me directly on one of the numbers rather than on the group chat, I may not see it until much later. For those who are not on WhatsApp, continue to SMS me on my mobile number. .... . I am not a fan of Facebook, to put it mildly, and I have reservations about continuing to use WhatsApp, especially with the issues I have been having with using the broadcast function, but there isn't currently a viable alternative, and I doubt there will be any significant changes in WhatsApp's functionality and charges, at least for a couple of years. And, if after a couple of years, I don't like the way WhatsApp has gone, hopefully, there will be a viable alternative by that time. Viber is promising, but needs to be more widely used before I will consider switching. |
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Post by Foo Cheong on Feb 22, 2014 8:56:42 GMT 8
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Post by Rajiv on Feb 22, 2014 9:01:23 GMT 8
No data for Viber?
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Post by Foo Cheong on Feb 22, 2014 11:51:56 GMT 8
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Post by Rajiv on Mar 12, 2014 9:16:03 GMT 8
From the schedule thread for the extra game on Sunday night at Balestier Road: WhatsApp de-activated my home number at about 4 pm. When I tried to re-register it, I got a message stating "Your phone number is no longer allowed to use our service". I then registered a spare mobile number I have. Just as I was about to complete informing everyone to use that number instead of the home number, WhatsApp de-activated that too. When I tried to re-activate it, I got the same message. I got it even on the mobile phone in which the SIM card was placed. I was out from 6 pm onwards, so I couldn't do much more than complain to WhatsApp support. For now, please use my mobile number only. Unfortunately, I don't know if anyone else confirmed for this game after 4 pm. If you did, please message me on my usual mobile number. Previously, from "The forum & modes of communication" announcements & developments thread: I've finally installed WhatsApp on my phone. I will be using it primarily to broadcast available places for games over the next day or two. I've also installed it on my PC. I sent out a broadcast from my PC yesterday afternoon. As WhatsApp is not available for PCs, and only allows one device per number, I had to do a work around to get it working on my PC, including getting my contacts from my phone to the WhatsApp app on my PC. Took me a couple of days, but it was interesting. .... I have been using WhatsApp as follows: * If a game is slow to fill up, broadcast to those who might play that game. * When I put up the poll for team selectors, create a group of those down for the game to inform them. I keep the group going until the game. I include a link to the thread using tinyurl.com. * After the poll closes, inform the group who the team selectors are. I may also update the group when the line ups are finalized. If so, I include a link to the post. For those not on WhatsApp, I continue to use SMS. But I now use WhatsApp first. For broadcast and group, I use the number set up on my computer. For more immediate messages, please continue to use my mobile number. Therefore, players confirmed for a game have at least two reminders, the first a day or two before, the other(s), on the day itself. ..... I SMS players who don't have WhatsApp. If an approved player puts down a guest for the game, I now ask for the contact number of the guest, if I don't already have it. If the guest is on WhatsApp, I add him to the group. If players withdraw, I add the replacements to the group chat, provided they have WhatsApp. When the poll closes, I announce the result on the group chat. Again, I SMS those who aren't on WhatsApp. If players leave the group chat before the result is announced, I add them back to the group before announcing the result. I may also create a sub-group to allow the two team selectors to discuss players before agreeing on the line ups. .... The WhatsApp group chat is ... used in the period immediately before the game to provide updates on rain, and traffic conditions. .... The WhatsApp group chat will also help players to get to know each other sooner, and better. I've noticed that WhatsApp broadcasts don't get through to everyone on the list. In fact, maybe less than 50% of those on the list. And it's difficult to check who has received the broadcast message and who hasn't it. Generally, when a message goes from your device, there is one tick against the message. When it is received on the recipient's device, there is two ticks against the message. Useful. The new format of the broadcast list doesn't show the ticks in the list itself, so you have to go into each name to see whether the message has one tick or two ticks. When I am sending out broadcasts to more than 100 contacts, it is too time consuming. .... From the Chat board: The WhatsApp has grown to be an important part of the GIFFA System. Under the "Pre-game protocol, cancellations & weather policy" section: WhatsApp has been acquired by Facebook. I am not a fan of Facebook, to put it mildly, and I have reservations about continuing to use WhatsApp, especially with the issues I have been having with using the broadcast function, but there isn't currently a viable alternative, and I doubt there will be any significant changes in WhatsApp's functionality and charges, at least for a couple of years. And, if after a couple of years, I don't like the way WhatsApp has gone, hopefully, there will be a viable alternative by that time. Viber is promising, but needs to be more widely used before I will consider switching. I am thinking of going as far as making it a requirement to have WhatsApp, as it makes the pre-game protocols much easier for me to manage. Only about 4 of our 175 odd approved players are not on WhatsApp. Rather than prevent players who don't have WhatsApp from playing, I am considering adding $1 to the price per player for those who aren't on WhatsApp. For those who don't have a smartphone or tablet, I can provide a method for installing WhatsApp on a PC, laptop or notebook by using an Android emulator such as BlueStacks. .... I first installed WhatsApp on my PC in October 2012. Based on internet searched, I discovered that I could instal an Android emulator such as BlueStacks on my PC, and then instal WhatsApp on the emulator. I used my home office number for WhatsApp on my PC. Around November 2013, I had problems with an update for BlueStacks (which is still in beta), but I was able to continue using WhatsApp on my PC. The difficulties I have had with WhatsApp since Saturday (8 March 2014) afternoon have been trying: - At about 4 pm, I was asked to reverify the number. When I entered the number I had been using before, as stated at the top of this post, the message I got was "Your phone number is no longer allowed to use our service".
- When I switched to M1 last year, a free data SIM card came with the package. I used that number in place of my home office number. I started updating everyone about the change in number. When I was just about to complete the process, I was again asked to reverify the number. When I entered the same number again, I again got the message "Your phone number is no longer allowed to use our service". When I tried the SIM card on a spare smart phone, I got the same message.
- I e-mailed WhatsApp support immediately, but apart from an auto-reply asking me to re-confirm the numbers, I have not received any response.
- About 2 hours wasted on Saturday.
- On Monday, I used a spare prepaid SIM card number and verified WhatsApp on my PC again. It was working fine until yesterday afternoon, when again I got the message asking me to reverify, and when I did, I again got the message "Your phone number is no longer allowed to use our service"
So three numbers blocked for no clear reason. WhatsApp has been regularly updated, the last time sometime last week. I can only speculate as to the reasons for the blocks:
- WhatsApp requires users to have a valid SMS plan. My home office number doesn't, so I can understand them blocking it, but why after almost a year and a half? I got round it because they have a back-up of a voice call for the code.
- The free data SIM card may not have had a SMS plan, although it was able to receive SMSes. Was it the volume of messages WhatsApp objected to? I was sending out messaged quite quickly to update players on my new number.
- For the prepaid SIM card, I didn't mass message to inform players of my new number. I just used it normally. However, the SIM card was in spare phone, which had previously had WhatsApp installed. Perhaps WhatsApp was able to detect that the the SIM card was in a device other than the one where it was being used. WhatsApp only allows one number to be used on one device. However, I was only using the number on my PC, and had never verified that number on any other device.
In any event, none of the reasons applies to all three instances of blocking. The only reason that applies to all three is that WhatsApp object to the service being used via a PC. If so, WhatsApp should just say so. The installation of WhatsApp on PCs is widely discussed on the internet, and no one suggests that on its own, it is a breach of WhatsApp's terms of service. On WhatsApp's FAQs:
WhatsApp's terms of service can be found here, and I don't see how using WhatsApp via a PC can be a breach. The reason given for requiring verification each time was that the same number cannot be used on more than one device. I am still available on my mobile number. However, working off my PC is much faster, because I am able to speed type on the keyboard. I need the speed for the volume. Perhaps that is the crux of it - WhatsApp is trying to control volume, as its servers have been overloaded, so it is blocking heavy usage through work arounds. Two good things to come out of the problems with WhatsApp: - The issues with the BlueStacks update have been resolved.
- I cleaned up my contacts.
And the solution to not being able to use WhatsApp on my PC? I need a service that allows me to message player's mobile phones directly without a user name or the cost of SMSes. I only know of WhatsApp and Viber. For now, I will switch to Viber on my PC, using my mobile number, to supplement, and perhaps supplant WhatsApp broadcasts. I don't like the interface, and Viber slows down the keying in of text (but I can work around that), but it will do for now. I will only use WhatsApp for group chats (via my mobile) and for those who don't have Viber. WhatsApp on my PC will be temporary numbers, at least until my issues with WhatsApp are resolved. |
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Post by Rajiv on Mar 16, 2014 21:05:25 GMT 8
On Wednesday (12 March 2014), I bought a prepaid card, used it on a phone without WhatsApp installed, and then verified WhatsApp on my PC with that number. WhatsApp on my PC has been working alright since then. I got the following reply from WhatsApp support on Thursday (13 March 2014): I haven't had time to reply to them, but I have two other mobile numbers that are still not allowed to use the service, even from the smartphone in which the number is installed. Before I got the new number, I tried using Viber. I sent out the following message to those who showed up as having Viber installed: Even amongst those who had Viber installed, a large proportion hadn't updated it. Viber doesn't have broadcasts the way WhatsApp does, but it's group chat appears more flexible. I may move towards using Viber to inform players of available places. From the Wikipedia article on Viber: From the Wikipedia article on Rakuten: As I will be increasingly looking at Viber, I have changed the name of this thread from "WhatsApp" to "WhatsApp / Viber" |
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Post by Rajiv on May 24, 2014 20:29:51 GMT 8
WhatsApp finally got round to blocking my number again! Again, the reason given is that I'm not allowed to use one number on more than one device. I was only using it on one device.  One of the old ones is now not blocked, so I'll be using that instead. |
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Post by Gerard N on May 28, 2014 16:01:11 GMT 8
@rajiv have you ever tried wechat?
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Post by Rajiv on May 29, 2014 15:39:26 GMT 8
I want to be able to contact players by their mobile numbers, whether via SMS, WhatsApp or Viber. If I have to use a separate ID, it doesn't work for me. I think Wechat requires a separate ID?
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Post by Gerard N on May 30, 2014 14:35:15 GMT 8
I don't think its a separate ID. You register using your phone number and you will be able to contact anyone who has wechat app in their phones.
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