Looks like the month long beta period is finally over

It’s crazy to think that business owners have been using the standard version of Whatsapp to service their customers this whole time. The freeware messaging app, which was launched back in 2009 has grown in popularity over the years to the point where it was even deemed a threat to Facebook. Naturally Facebook acquired them in 2014, as they try to do with pretty much everything that threatens their grasp on our attention, but I digress.

Fast forward to 2019 and the app has pretty much ingrained itself in Malaysian culture. A 2017 study found that Malaysian’s are the worlds biggest Whatsapp users. That’s honestly no surprise to me, Malaysians love chatting! I’ve seen enough social media profiles where people list one of their hobbies as ‘Just chatting’, and they normally spell it without the G! If you think about it, the term ‘Just whatsapp me la’ would’ve sounded ridiculous back in the app’s early years but today, it’s something you probably hear on a daily basis.

Ok I think i’ve made my point. Whatsapp is a big part of our day to day lives.

It’s about time

With businesses also relying on the messaging app to communicate with their customers, there has long been a need for a proper, optimized for business version of the app. I mean come on, everything is optimized these days! Whatsapp Business is long overdue. That being said, Whatsapp actually announced their Whatsapp Business app back in 2017, so it’s not like they’ve been completely oblivious to the needs of the people. It rolled out in 2018 but only for Android users. iOS users have had to wait for the long awaited release and it looks like its finally coming.

While WhatsApp hasn’t officially announced the launch for iOS, the app is now available on the app store in certain countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and France. The app is separate from the standard version and comes with features that are aimed at businesses, such as quick replies, away messages, greeting messages and also allows businesses to add vital information like working hours, address and links to social media accounts to their profile page.

No news on when it will be available in Malaysia just yet, which makes no sense. I mean,  Malaysians are the world’s largest users of WhatsApp! You can rest assured we’ll keep you updated.