If you’re in the USA, you can sign up for a free Google Voice number. If you already text with people, you can just ask everyone to download WhatsApp and you’ll see them in WhatsApp without any friending required. If someone in your address book is on WhatsApp, you’ll know. You don’t have to tell your friends to sign up for WhatsApp accounts and then friend each other, as you do on other messaging services. The interesting thing about WhatsApp is how low-friction it is. WhatsApp functions similarly to SMS, but it sends messages via the Internet - so it will be completely free if you’re connected to Wi-Fi or will only cost you a small bit of data if you’re on a cellular network. If they’re using WhatsApp, you can message them via the WhatsApp app. It will scan your phone’s address book and look at the phone numbers you have associated with your contacts, displaying your contacts that are using WhatsApp.
After you do, WhatsApp will associate the app with your current phone number on its servers.
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When you install WhatsApp on your phone, you’ll have to confirm your phone number by receiving a text message. WhatsApp, the most popular free messaging app, piggybacks on top of your existing phone number and contacts.
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However, if you use a prepaid carrier with pay-per-use billing, using one of the apps below can help you and your friends save money, texting entirely for free when you’re on Wi-Fi. If your plan gives you unlimited text messages - something that sounds nice, but is basically free for the carrier to offer so they bundle it to justify high monthly fees - you probably don’t care about getting text messages for free. So why do carriers charge so much for text messages? Well, for a similar reason that carriers add so much profit to roaming fees - because they can get away with it. A text is basically free for a carrier to send. They’re sent along with other data that’s already being used with the wireless network. The truth about text messages is that they don’t put any additional load on a cellular network.