WhatsApp's India user-base growing in millions

WhatsApp user base has been growing steadily and according to recent reports has crossed 70 million active users in India, even as BlackBerry’s BBM messenger plays catch up.

According to a report by India’s Economic Times the Facebook-owned WhatsApp now grown to almost ten per cent of its global user base and the number keeps growing.

Globally whatsApp is said to have an active user base of over 600 million.

"We have 70 million active-users here who use the application at least once a month," said Neeraj Arora, the company’s vice-president in India.

The company was earlier scheduled to launch its free voice call service this year has now postponed the release to early 2015.

According to reports  the app currently has access to the microphones of only a select few handsets. In order to be universally applicable and enable voice noise cancelling, the app will require access to the microphone and this the company believes could be worked out only by 2015.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry which rolled out its BBM feature into Android and iOS devices last year has launched a new update that introduces Snapchat like features into BBM.

“With today’s BBM update we’re incredibly excited to introduce a number of new features …. (such as) privacy features that allow customers to take control over the messages and content that they share, so they can communicate with more discretion and freedom than ever before,” an introductory note by the company said.

“We have been testing these features with customers over the last few weeks and the feedback has been incredible. They’re telling us that Timed Messages and Message Retraction add a whole new dynamic to BBM – unlike any other chat app out there today,” it added.

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