WhatsApp has decided to strengthen its policy against clone applications of the famous instant messaging service. Considering that they violate its terms of use and that they do not offer sufficient security, WhatsApp now authorizes itself to ban all users who use these unofficial applications.
On his official blog, WhatsApp has just announced its entry into the war against clone applications. These WhatsApp ersatz, such as GB WhatsApp or WhatsApp plus, offer additional features that are absent from the “real” app. They make it possible, for example, to automatically reply to a message, to exceed the 250-word mark in group messages, to send more photos or to hide acknowledgments of receipt. Also note that some of them turn out to be scams or contain malware, such as WhatsApp Pink.
Designed by anonymous developers and only accessible for download outside the Google Play Store, these unofficial applications are extremely popular and gather millions of users around the world. Only and in the eyes of WhatsApp, these third-party apps violate its terms of service. In one of its help pages, the teams of the Meta group’s flagship app have clarified their position on the subject.
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WhatsApp no longer wants to see clone apps
“Unsupported apps like WhatsApp Plus, GB WhatsApp or other apps claiming to transfer your WhatsApp chats between your phones are corrupted versions of WhatsApp. These unofficial apps are developed by third parties and violate our Terms of Service. WhatsApp does not support these third-party apps because we cannot verify their security practices. they assure.
In fact, users using these clones will be able to now see access to their account “temporarily blocked”. To lift this restriction, you will have to log in again on the official version of WhatsApp. However, if you persist in using these third-party applications, a permanent banishment can be pronounced against you:
“If you don’t upgrade to the official app after being temporarily blocked, your account may be permanently banned and you will no longer be able to use WhatsApp.” warns the instant messaging application. If you are WhatsApp Plus or GB WhatsApp user, the company has just shared the procedure for saving and transferring its conversations to the official app.
How to save whatsapp conversations
From UK WhatsApp
- Meeting on More options > Chats > Backup chats
- Then go to the settings of your smartphone, then Storage > Files
- Get your hands on the GB WhatsApp folder and rename it WhatsApp
- Download the official WhatsApp app from the Google Play Store if needed
- Log in and restore the backup from your device’s internal memory
From WhatsApp Plus
- Meet in the settings and make sure that saving chats is activated
- Download the official WhatsApp app from the Google Play Store if needed
- Log in to WhatsApp: all old conversations should be there
