Latest news with #WillCathcart
Stuff.tv
3 days ago
- Stuff.tv
Finally! WhatsApp gives into one of its ‘biggest requests' – could Instagram follow?
Hell has frozen over. Well at least that's what it seemed like would have to happen before WhatsApp launched….an iPad app for Apple's popular tablet. And it's available now through the App Store. Yes, 15 years after the debut of Apple's tablet and 16 years after the launch of the independent WhatsApp (before it was swallowed by Meta) we finally have what the company itself admits was one of its 'biggest requests'. And no wonder. According to DataReportal, WhatsApp is used by around a quarter of the world's population. Over 2bn people. Yep. So the question remains why it has taken so long to do an app for the world's most popular tablet. Head of WhatsApp Will Cathcart stated in a 2022 interview with The Verge that 'people have wanted an iPad app for a long time… We'd love to do it'. Clearly not so much as to do it within the last three years, leaving iPad users in the odd place of having to use WhatsApp through the browser. And that's even though the app has been available natively on macOS for some years (used as a paired device with your phone) and was revamped in 2023 alongside the Windows equivalent. Could it have been that Meta didn't want to make it easy for the iPad to grow among its users, harboring hopes of its own tablet range? Or is it simply that the app was traditionally tied to a phone number? Perhaps, but maybe we won't find out until the email appears as part of some future court case or other public record. In any case, the iPad app is the same app you'll know and love from your iOS or Android phone so you can message all those time-consuming groups and make video and audio calls with up to 32 people, share your screen. You can once again use both front and back cameras. It also works with the iPad's multitasking capabilities including Split View and Slide Over as well as the much-maligned Stage Manager so you can use another app while you're on a video call or sending a message. As the WhatsApp blog post states, Stage Manager is available on iPad Pro with M4, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) and iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air 11-inch (M2 and later), iPad Air 13-inch (M2 and later). Oh, and WhatsApp also works with Apple Pencil as well as any Bluetooth keyboard or Magic Keyboard as you'd expect.
Jordan News
3 days ago
- Jordan News
Finally... Meta Officially Launches WhatsApp App for iPad - Jordan News
Finally... Meta Officially Launches WhatsApp App for iPad Meta has officially announced the launch of the dedicated WhatsApp app for iPad, more than 15 years after the popular messaging service debuted in 2009 and following the release of the first-generation iPad in 2010. اضافة اعلان iPad users can now download the app for free from the App Store, with support for most of the features available on the iPhone version. The WhatsApp app for iPad offers voice and video calling for up to 32 participants, with support for both the front and rear cameras, as well as a screen-sharing feature during calls. The app takes advantage of iPadOS features such as Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over, allowing users to run WhatsApp alongside other apps. This enables users to read messages while browsing the internet or watching videos, making the WhatsApp experience more efficient on a larger screen compared to smartphones. Previously, iPad users relied on the web version through a browser or desktop apps for macOS and Windows. In 2022, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart stated that the company was working on a native iPadOS version, noting that "many people have long been asking for a dedicated app for iPad." Meta had been testing the beta version of the app on iPads for a long time without providing a specific release date, making the official announcement a surprise to many users. It's worth noting that earlier reports suggested Meta is also working on a dedicated Instagram app for iPad, though that has yet to be officially confirmed. — Al-Bawaba Tech
Ammon
3 days ago
- Ammon
After 15 years, WhatsApp is finally ready for the iPad
Ammon News - Meta now has a dedicated iPad app for WhatsApp, more than 15 years after the messaging service and the first iPad launched (2009 and 2010, respectively). Available to download today via the App Store, WhatsApp for iPad supports many of the same features as its iPhone counterpart, allowing users to join audio and video calls with up to 32 people, use both the rear and front device cameras, and share their screen with other call participants. The WhatsApp for iPad works with iPadOS features like Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over, enabling it to run alongside other applications. That means users can view their messages in a split-screen view while browsing the web or watching videos, making the larger screen more practical for multitasking while using the app, compared to constantly switching away from WhatsApp on smaller mobile devices. If you wanted to use WhatsApp on a larger screen before the iPad app, you had to either run the web version in your iPad's browser or use the desktop apps for Mac or PC. In 2022, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said that Meta would 'love' to develop a native iPadOS WhatsApp experience, noting that 'people have wanted an iPad app for a long time.' The WhatsApp account on X teased on Monday that the app was coming via a not-so-subtle eyes emoji, but there was no indication that it would drop this soon. Meta is also rumored to be developing an Instagram app for iPad that's optimized for the larger display, but the company hasn't dropped any hints about that in the way it did for WhatsApp. The Verge
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jury orders Israeli firm to pay WhatsApp nearly $170M in damages
May 7 (UPI) -- A federal jury in California has ordered Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO to pay WhatsApp nearly $170 million in damages for using the smartphone messaging application to spy on nearly 1,500 human rights activists, journalists and political dissidents in 2019. "Today's verdict in WhatsApp's case is an important step forward for privacy and security as the first victory against the development and use of illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone," WhatsApp said Tuesday in a blog post. NSO, infamous for its Pegasus malware, was ordered Tuesday to pay WhatsApp $167 million in punitive damages and an additional $440,000 in compensatory damages, The Hill reported. Meta, then known as Facebook, filed the lawsuit against NSO Group Technologies Limited in 2019, accusing it of infecting the smartphones of some 1,400 users with its Pegasus malware between April and May of that year over its WhatsApp messaging service. Targets included attorneys, journalists, human rights activists, dissidents, diplomats and senior government officials. The targets were from several countries, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico. The lawsuit never stated who had hired NSO. According to WhatsApp, during the six-year litigation, it was learned that Pegasus, once installed on a smartphone, had the ability to suck up information from any app on the device -- information from financial and location to emails and text messages -- as well as control their microphones and cameras. A judge in December had ruled in WhatsApp's favor, with the jury deciding on compensation Tuesday. "The jury's verdict today to punish NSO is a critical deterrent to the spyware industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and our users worldwide," WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said on X. "The fight isn't over. Our next step is to secure a court order to prevent NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp again." WhatsApp said in its blog post that the trial also showed that WhatsApp was not NSO's only target and that it has had "many other spyware installation methods" to exploit technologies of other companies to gain access to customers' phones. "Given how much information people access on their devices, including through private end-to-end encrypted apps like WhatsApp, Signal and others, we will continue going after spyware vendors indiscriminately targeting people around the world," it said.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meta awarded $167 million in damages from Israeli cybersecurity firm
Live Events The Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group was ordered on Tuesday to pay $167 million in damages to Meta , capping a six-year legal battle after NSO hacked 1,400 WhatsApp accounts belonging to journalists, human-rights activists and government December, Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that NSO Group had broken cybersecurity laws by using its popular Pegasus spying software to target phones with WhatsApp installed in 20 countries. Meta owns WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app with more than 2 billion users, as well as Facebook and March, Meta filed a brief seeking damages from NSO Group, and last week a jury heard arguments about potential penalties. The jury awarded the damages Tuesday after two days of deliberations."The jury's verdict today to punish NSO is a critical deterrent to the spyware industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and our users worldwide," Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said in a statement. "This is an industrywide threat, and it'll take all of us to defend against it."WhatsApp said it would donate the damages to digital rights organizations that defend people."We will carefully examine the verdict's details and pursue appropriate legal remedies, including further proceedings and an appeal," said Gil Lainer, NSO Group's vice president for global communication. "We firmly believe that our technology plays a critical role in preventing serious crime and terrorism and is deployed responsibly by authorized government agencies."WhatsApp sued NSO Group in 2019, accusing it of gaining access to WhatsApp servers without permission. The trial, during which NSO Group executives testified in court for the first time, shed light on the company's ability to install its Pegasus software on the mobile devices of targets without their knowledge. Its executives argued that Pegasus helped law enforcement and intelligence agencies fight crime and protect national security. Apple similarly sued NSO Group for hacking its devices in 2021, but dropped its suit in September. Also in 2021, the Commerce Department blacklisted NSO Group, saying the company acted "contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."Spyware, a type of software installed on phones, laptops and other electronic devices to spy on unsuspecting victims, is a growing field. NSO Group's early spyware required that people click on text messages or images sent via WhatsApp for it to be unknowingly downloaded on their to evidence presented at the trial, new versions could hack into a phone through a sent text message, requiring no action by the receiver. The trial also revealed that NSO Group had developed technology to hack into other messaging Scott-Railton, an outside expert who helped WhatsApp inform people that NSO Group spyware had targeted them, said Tuesday's decision would damage the company."NSO's business is based on hacking American companies," and then "dictators can hack dissidents," said Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog group at the University of Toronto. "This verdict sends a clear signal."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
