Everything We Know About WhatsApp’s Paid Subscription.
Back in January, I wrote about Meta’s plans to test subscriptions for some of its platforms. The idea is to preserve the current functionality of each app (meaning, make it free), while adding new features that users can access for a monthly fee. It’s a good compromise—if you don’t like the idea of paying for Instagram or WhatsApp, you can continue using the apps as usual. If you like the new features, you can pay for them. Heck, maybe Meta will make enough money from subscriptions to go out of business as a data miner! (Well, one can dream.)
Meta appears to be moving forward with a paid WhatsApp subscription. According to WABetaInfo , the company is working on “WhatsApp Plus,” an optional paid plan that adds new features to the messenger. It offers a number of new features, but not as many as I expected from a subscription version of the app, which has always been free. (However, there’s no information on the price of WhatsApp Plus, so it’s possible these features will cost around $1 per month.)
What features will be coming to WhatsApp Plus?
If you decide to pay for WhatsApp, Meta will offer you 14 new icons to choose from and over a dozen options for changing the app’s theme. Free users can currently pin up to three chats to the top of the chat window; paid users will be able to pin up to 20. (A screenshot from WABetaInfo shows that if you try to add too many pinned chats, a pop-up warning appears: “You can only pin 20 chats.” Just 20!) Many of us keep our smartphones on vibrate or silent mode at all times, but for those who don’t, paying for WhatsApp unlocks a new set of ringtones. WABetaInfo claims that each new ringtone “has its own distinctive style,” though it didn’t provide any audio files.
These features are currently in testing, but according to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp plans to add other features to its Plus service. This could include exclusive stickers not available to free users, as well as more “immersive and interactive” reactions.
How to try WhatsApp Plus early
There’s no official launch date for WhatsApp Plus, so it’s difficult to say when Meta plans to implement it. However, WABetaInfo reports that the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (version 2.26.9.6) has added a banner, either in the sticker keyboard or at the top of the settings menu, for signing up for the WhatsApp Plus waitlist.
If you’re comfortable with this, sign up for the WhatsApp beta for Android , update the app to install it, and then check out one of these spots in the app. Please note that signing up for the waitlist doesn’t require you to subscribe. The option to do so will only become available after Meta launches WhatsApp Plus. If you decide you don’t want to pay, you can simply ignore this option.