WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an American freeware, cross-platform centralised instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by Facebook, Inc. It enables users to exchange text messages and voice messages, as well as make audio and video conversations, and to share pictures, documents, user locations, and other information with other users on the network. So although WhatsApp's client application is designed to run on mobile devices, it is also available from desktop computers, so long as the user's mobile device is still connected to the Internet while using the desktop version. In order to use the service, you must have a cellular mobile telephone number. WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Business, a separate company app aimed at small business owners, in January 2018. WhatsApp Business allows businesses to interact with consumers who use the regular WhatsApp client, which was previously unavailable.
WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, created the client application, which was purchased by Facebook in February 2014 for about US$19.3 billion. WhatsApp Inc. is a subsidiary of Facebook. By 2015, it had surpassed SMS as the most widely used messaging programme on the planet, and it has more than 2 billion users globally as of February 2020. There are many places where it has replaced other forms of internet connection, including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and significant portions of Europe and Africa.
WhatsApp was created by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both of whom were former Yahoo! employees.