Popular messaging app WhatsApp said Thursday it set a new daily record with 4 billion inbound messages and 6 billion outbound messages, recording an astounding 10 billion total messages in a single day.
Though WhatsApp didn't reveal when they hit the new record, one would presume it was on Wednesday, 22 August, considering they made the statement on Thursday. WhatsApp shared the news via Twitter, saying: "new daily record: 4B inbound, 6B outbound = 10B total messages a day! #freebsd #erlang".
In case you are wondering why there's a difference in the number of inbound and outbound, WhatsApp took to Twitter to explain that as well: "the difference in inbound vs. outbound is due to group chats :)".
#freebsd and #erlang in the original tweet is a tribute to the underlying technology behind WhatsApp, so don't rack your brain trying to decode that.
WhatsApp is a "SMS-replacement" app available on almost all platforms, including iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. The app is free on most platforms for the first year, and costs $0.99 thereafter. WhatsApp messages, however, are free, with no limits, which would explain the app's huge fan following.
WhatsApp was rather popular in India, even before the recent SMS restrictions put in by the Government of India. However, with the Government limiting users to just 5 SMS a day, almost everyone was looking for ways to work around the limit. Enter WhatsApp and others. Though WhatsApp is not the only app of its kind, it was definitely the preferred alternative.
Though WhatsApp didn't officially link its record to an increased usage in India, we do believe there's a connection there.
Did you use WhatsApp or any other app to workaround the SMS restrictions? Let us know via the comments.