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WhatsApp has reached 100 million monthly active users in the US. The Meta-owned messaging platform, which is already the biggest instant messaging app in the world, hit the milestone on July 25. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the news on his WhatsApp channel.
WhatsApp reaches 100 million monthly active users in the US
Founded in 2009 and acquired by Meta (then Facebook) in 2014 for approximately $19.3 billion, WhatsApp became the world’s most popular instant messaging app in 2015. By 2020, the app had more than two billion users worldwide. It is the primary means of Internet communication in several regions, including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, and Africa. The platform facilitates more than 100 billion messages each day globally.
However, despite its massive popularity, WhatsApp couldn’t penetrate the US messaging industry as much as the rest of the world. It appears that’s slowly changing. With 100 million monthly active users, it is now among the most popular messaging apps stateside. Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Seattle are the fastest-growing markets for WhatsApp in the US. The app also experienced “significant growth” in Southern states. It has over 10 million users in Texas.
“This is the first time data pertaining to users has been released since Meta’s acquisition of the messaging app and demonstrates how the messaging platform, already the biggest messaging app in the world, has experienced tremendous growth in the US,” WhatsApp spokesperson Ashley O’Reilly said in a press release. The company continues to bet on its Android-iOS interoperability. Unlike Apple’s iMessage, WhatsApp works like a charm on both platforms.
Apple’s RCS adoption for iMessage could hurt WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s Android-iOS interoperability bet has been working because of the lack of RCS support on iPhones. This made cross-platform messaging to and from Android phones boring. It relied on the SMS standard, meaning that users missed out on modern features like read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality image and video sharing, end-to-end encryption, and more. Of course, a distinct green bubble for Android messages (iPhone messages appear in blue bubbles).
WhatsApp eliminated it all, offering the same messaging experience no matter what device you and your friends use. However, Apple is now leveling up the playing field with RCS support for iMessage. Starting with iOS 18, iMessage will work with the RCS messaging standard used by Google Messages on Android. This will ensure a standardized messaging system on both platforms, potentially at the expense of WhatsApp’s growth. Hopefully, Meta is preparing its next move.