WhatsApp is Meta’s (then Facebook’s) most expensive purchase to date, with nearly $20 billion paid in 2014. It’s also the most difficult one to monetize. The app is free, and everything in it is end-to-end encrypted. Placing personalized ads based on user-generated content and interests isn’t possible. But Meta is looking to place ads inside WhatsApp. That’s always been the case, and WhatsApp’s head, Will Cathcart, confirmed as much in a recent interview.

However, WhatsApp won’t put ads inside your chat inbox. Instead, you might see commercials in the status or channels. The latter is a feature that Meta seems to have copied from Telegram, which allows people to create communities inside WhatsApp. Before you get started with channels, you should know that’s probably the only area in WhatsApp where texting isn’t protected by end-to-end encryption.

Ads in WhatsApp

Last month, Cathcart denied that ads are coming to WhatsApp, as a report from The Financial Times claimed. However, Cathcart had to adapt his response when talking to Brazilian media Folha.

“The article claimed that we were going to put ads in the inbox. We’re not doing that, we’re not discussing it. We don’t think that’s the right model. People, when they open their inbox, don’t want to see advertising,” the high-ranking WhatsApp exec.

Meanwhile, Meta has been rolling out paid versions of Facebook and Instagram in Europe, where local privacy laws are getting tougher. I said recently that Meta might have created these premium ad-free Facebook and Instagram experiences as bait for consumers.

Rather than paying the monthly fee, they’d agree to see ads. And Facebook looks to obtain explicit consent from European Facebook and Instagram users for personalized ads.

WhatsApp Status features. Image source: WhatsApp

Users in Europe are already seeing such prompts in action, and Meta seems to be steering customers to the ad-supported apps rather than the premium models. That’s to say that Meta wants to show ads in its apps rather than charge you for them, and WhatsApp isn’t going to be an exception.

Cathcart clarified to Folha that WhatsApp will remain free, and the main messaging experience will be ad-free. “The reason I qualified the answer [to The Financial Times article] is that there could be ads in other places placements or statuses,” the exec added.

“For example, channels could charge people to subscribe, they could be exclusive to paid members, or the owners might want to promote the channel. But, no, we’re not going to put ads in the inbox.”

How WhatsApp makes money now

The WhatsApp boss also said that combined, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp bring in $10 billion a year. It’s unclear how much of that figure comes from WhatsApp, but Meta has two ways of monetizing the chat app that do not involve ads in WhatsApp. Both concern enterprise use.

Meta charges businesses a fee for allowing them to chat with customers via WhatsApp. Also, Meta might offer businesses that rely on WhatsApp for communication with consumers other paid services, like Facebook and Instagram ads that point to a company’s WhatsApp presence.

Meta AI features in WhatsApp: AI stickers, AI chats, and Photorealistic Image Generation. Image source: WhatsApp

Cathcart also addressed generative AI features in WhatsApp and dropped an interesting gem about the experience. The WhatsApp AI will give you information from the internet without you having to browse the web manually. That is, Meta wants to keep you inside the app with the help of AI rather than losing your attention.

I can’t help but wonder if that’s something Meta will monetize with ads. Here’s Cathcart’s quote about it:

Another thing is that we have the AI agents, who you can talk to, exchange messages with, and it answers your questions. It can give ideas, search the internet, and give recent and accurate information. Obviously, this is AI, so we’re learning. But it’s a way to access information without having to search the internet, enter websites.

With all that in mind, it’s unclear when Meta will roll out ads in WhatsApp. But at least you’ve been warned to expect them in some WhatsApp experiences.

The post WhatsApp is getting ads, but it’s not as bad as it sounds appeared first on BGR.

Streaming subscriptions are getting increasingly more expensive. It’s not just Netflix, as everyone in the industry continues to raise prices periodically. That’s a good excuse to reconsider your streaming budget and ditch the services you’re not watching.

But it also makes propositions like Verizon’s rumored $10 Netflix-Max bundle very exciting. You can save money without ditching Netflix or Max, even if that means watching ads. That’s because, yes, the $10 bundle only includes the ad-supported versions of Netflix and Max.

Purchased separately, they’ll cost you around $17 a month, with Netflix’s ad-based tier accounting for $6.99. Verizon’s bundle will let you save $7 per month, a great deal that comes right in time for the Black Friday shopping season.

Verizon hasn’t announced the deal officially, however. But the carrier reportedly plans to roll out the Netflix-Max bundle in the coming weeks. Per The Wall Street Journal, the $10 streaming bundle will be available to Verizon’s “myPlan” wireless customers.

This isn’t the first time Verizon has offered better streaming deals to its subscribers. About a year ago, Verizon threw in a free year of Netflix’s most expensive ad-free subscription as long as you subscribed to a second streaming service Verizon offered via its platform.

The reason Verizon is bundling such services concerns customer retention. The carrier found that bundling streaming services cuts churn by 60% to 70%. Also, Verizon gets a piece of the revenue, though the deal’s financial details have not leaked. Moreover, the report says there is a minimum revenue guarantee for the streamers.

Father of the Bride is streaming on HBO Max in June. Image source: Warner Bros. Pictures

This time around, the bundle concerns the ad-based versions of Netflix and Max, which might seem like an odd choice. However, both Netflix and Max want to expand the reach of their ad-based tiers significantly.

That’s the only way for advertisers to pay more attention to the streaming platforms and invest more money in ads tailored to these products.

The Journal reports that Netflix isn’t happy with the adoption of its ad-supported plan and is looking to boost those figures. This might explain why Netflix killed the cheapest ad-free subscription a few months ago, right after its password-sharing crackdown started. The streamer might have wanted to push more new subscribers to the ad-supported subscription.

Launched late last year, Netflix’s ad-based tier has 15 million active users. That’s up from five million in May. Netflix has 247 million subscribers globally. The Journal also notes that the ad-supported subscriptions accounted for 30% of new US customers as of September. The figures come from analytics firm Antenna.

In turn, the sign-ups for Max with ads rose from 16% to 19% over the same period. Warner Bros. Discovery does not disclose the actual number of Max subscribers on the ad-supported tier. Or the total number of Max subscribers.

But Warner has 95.1 million subscribers to its direct-to-customer services, Warner Bros. Discovery. While the figures for Max aren’t available, Max is the biggest streaming service in Warner’s portfolio.

Put differently, Netflix has 77.3 million customers in the US and Canada, compared to 52.6 million for Warner’s services, of which Max is, again, the largest.

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With the beta cycle of iOS 17.2 just getting started, there are several new features coming to iPhone users later this year. BGR is compiling everything we know so far about this software update, and we’ll continue to update the story during the testing cycle of this system.

Beta 1 features

Journal app is here: Apple is finally making available the first version of the Journal app. Using on-device machine learning, it displays personalized suggestions that can inspire a user’s journal entry. Apple says that suggestions are intelligently curated from recent activity, including photos, people, places, workouts, and more, making it easy to start a journal entry, and scheduled notifications can help build a journaling habit.

Apple Fitness+ Audio Focus: It gives users the ability to prioritize the volume of the music or the trainers’ voices during an Apple Fitness+ workout.

Apple Music Collaborative Playlist: With this feature, you are able to invite friends to collaborate on playlists. They can add, reorder, and remove songs.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Turn off Listening History on Apple Music: iOS 17.2 brings a Focus Filter, which lets you turn off the Listening History feature.

Favorite Apple Music Playlist: After iOS 17.1 added the ability to favorite songs, Apple created a Favorite Playlist with all your songs.

Action Button tweaks: Apple has added a Translate button as a new option for the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action Button (via iSoftware Updates).

iMessage Contact Key Verification: Contact key verification allows you to manually verify who you are messaging with by comparing contact verification codes in person or over the phone. Conversations with people who have contact key verification turned on also receive automatic advanced protections to help prevent even very sophisticated attackers from impersonating anyone in a conversation.

React to a message with any sticker: With iOS 17.2, you can react with any sticker or memoji to a message. Just long-press a text, select Add Sticker, and choose one.

Catch-up arrow: A catch-up arrow is again available in the Messages app so you can easily go to the last message you saw;

Memoji: There’s a new “Body” section for Memoji. You can customize the waist, bust, shoulders, and arms.

New TV app icons: Apple has revamped the bottom icons on the Apple TV app. More notably, the Apple TV+ section looks more prominent.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Beta 2 features and changes

Spatial video: With iOS 17.2 beta 2, iPhone 15 Pro users can record Spatial Videos, which can be seen in the upcoming Apple Vision Pro.

New Coverage section: Under Settings, there’s a new Coverage section showing if your iPhone/iPad is eligible or has an AppleCare+ warranty in addition to your Bluetooth devices. This feature was first available with macOS 14.1 (via @Johnthenormal).

New sections on App Store: The App Store now has a tab bar on top of the “Apps” and “Games” sections with different categories of apps (via @Johnthenormal).

Siri changes: Siri can now tell your estimated time of arrival when using Apple Maps.

BGR will update this story once we learn more about iOS 17.2 beta changes. In the meantime, you can check the new Apple TV app for tvOS 17.2.

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With iOS 17.2 beta 2 now available to iPhone users, Apple is adding Spatial Video support. This feature is exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro users, and it opens up the path for 3D videos for the Apple Vision Pro, expected to be released in early 2024.

To record Spatial Videos, users need to open Settings, Camera, and under Formats, check the Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro box. Here’s how it works:

“Record spatial video with remarkable depth for viewing in the Photos app on Apple Vision Pro. For best results, keep the iPhone in landscape orientation and stable while recording. Video is recorded at 30 fps at 1080p. A minute of spatial video is approximately 130 MB.”

On the Camera app, there’s an Apple Vision Pro icon you can toggle on before recording a video. Instantly, the app will tell you to register in landscape mode. Otherwise, it won’t let you start a recording.

To bring this Apple Vision Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple says the smartphone uses the main and the ultra-wide angle lenses to capture an image simultaneously. While the video is watchable on an iPhone, the full experience will come early next year in a Vision Pro headset.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

It’s interesting to note that while Apple Vision Pro has two 4K panels, the quality of the recording is only 1080p. At this moment, it’s unclear if Apple is limiting due to storage concerns or if it was intended to record in this quality from the start.

Despite this feature, the iOS 17.2 beta brings several delayed features from the initial iOS 17 release, such as:

Journal app is here: Apple is finally making available the first version of the Journal app. Using on-device machine learning, it displays personalized suggestions that can inspire a user’s journal entry. Apple says that suggestions are intelligently curated from recent activity, including photos, people, places, workouts, and more, making it easy to start a journal entry, and scheduled notifications can help build a journaling habit.

Apple Fitness+ Audio Focus: It gives users the ability to prioritize the volume of the music or the trainers’ voices during an Apple Fitness+ workout.

Apple Music Collaborative Playlist: With this feature, you are able to invite friends to collaborate on playlists. They can add, reorder, and remove songs.

iMessage Contact Key Verification: Contact key verification allows you to manually verify who you are messaging with by comparing contact verification codes in person or over the phone. Conversations with people who have contact key verification turned on also receive automatic advanced protections to help prevent even very sophisticated attackers from impersonating anyone in a conversation.

React to a message with any sticker: With iOS 17.2, you can react with any sticker or memoji to a message. Just long-press a text, select Add Sticker, and choose one.

BGR will keep reporting on the latest news for the iPhone as the iOS 17.2 testing cycle follows.

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With macOS 14.2 beta 2 now available to developers, Apple follows the testing cycle of this upcoming operating system. These changes come after the Scary Fast event, where Cupertino unveiled the next generation of Macs with the M3 chips.

Although macOS Sonoma still lacks a few features, version 14.2 is finally adding a few of them, such as:

Sticker reactions: React to a message with any Live Sticker, Memoji, or Animoji through the Sticker drawer or directly through the Tapback menu.

Collaborate on playlists: Invite friends to join your playlist, and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs. In Now Playing, you can use emojis to react to the song choices on Apple Music. That said, it doesn’t seem you can invite a friend to join a playlist on macOS 14.2 beta just yet.

Edit playlists: There’s a new edit button for playlists where you can add custom covers (an iOS 17.1 feature) and a description with macOS 14.2 beta.

iMessage Contact Key Verification: Contact key verification allows you to manually verify who you are messaging with by comparing contact verification codes in person or over the phone. Conversations with people who have contact key verification turned on also receive automatic advanced protections to help prevent even very sophisticated attackers from impersonating anyone in a conversation.

That said, macOS 14.2 still lacks some delayed Sonoma features, such as:

• PDF intelligent form detection: Fillable documents and forms can now be automatically identified across the system, like in Files, Mail, or scanned documents.
• PDF Enhanced Autofill: Populate information such as names and addresses on forms even faster, as powerful on-device language models identify fillable fields and enable AutoFill.
• Multiple timers: Run several timers on Mac simultaneously, perfect for when you’re cooking and need to keep track of different steps and dishes.

With the macOS 14.2 beta cycle just starting, we’ll let you know what we discover in upcoming builds. Alongside macOS 14.2 beta 2, Apple is also seeding the second test version of iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, watchOS 10.2, and tvOS 17.2.

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Apple is now releasing watchOS 10.2 beta 2 to developers as the testing cycle follows. Although we still don’t know much about changes with the Apple Watch operating system, Cupertino is finally adding one of the promised features exclusive to Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users.

With watchOS 10.2 beta 2, users can ask Siri to read and long on-device Health requests. This change not only makes requests faster but more private and secure to users, as Siri can be used to access the Health app for health and fitness-related queries on-device.

There are over 20 health data types that are supported through Siri to help you access and log health data quickly and easily.

Users can try queries like:

• Siri, how does my Move ring look today?
• Siri, did I close my Exercise Ring?
• Siri, what’s my step count?
• Siri, I took my 9 AM medications.
• Siri, log that I took my multivitamin.
• Siri, I weigh 183 pounds.

Despite this watchOS 10.2 beta change, Apple added a few other changes with watchOS 10.1, recently released to all Apple Watch users:

NameDrop from iPhone to Apple Watch lets you easily share your contact information from one iPhone to Apple Watch by approaching them. While this function is available for iPhone to iPhone with iOS 17, Apple says that nearing an iPhone to Apple Watch to perform the same action is possible with Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple Watch SE (1st and 2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra.

With the double-tap gesture, users can easily control the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 using just one hand and without touching the display by tapping the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly and conveniently perform many of the most common actions on the Watch. The faster Neural Engine enables this new double tap gesture, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine learning algorithm.

BGR will let you know once we learn more about the features available with the watchOS 10.2 beta for the Apple Watch. The company is also seeding the second beta of iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, macOS 14.2, and tvOS 17.2.

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As the testing cycle follows, Apple is now releasing tvOS 17.2 beta 2 to users. One of the most notable features of this update is a revamped Apple TV app. It was first reported by Bloomberg, and it’s now being tested by Apple.

On the TV app on tvOS 17.2, Apple has a new sidebar menu showing everything related to Apple, such as TV+, MLS Season Pass, Store, and Library, in addition to the user’s channels and apps.

Interestingly, so far, Apple hasn’t killed the iTunes Movie app, which is still available as a standalone app. In this new interface, you can select what you want to discover by tapping the different sections on the sidebar menu.

When selecting the Apple TV+ section, you’ll discover everything related to Apple’s own streaming service. For the Library, for example, you’ll get all the movies you have purchased and the same filters as before, such as “4K HDR,” genres, and more.

What’s interesting with this change is that you can now quickly access channels and apps. Previously, you could find TV shows and movies from third-party apps, but this is the first time Apple has made it so much easier to discover everything users are watching on other platforms.

With tvOS 17.2 beta, you still get a similar interface for the Store section on the Apple TV app. You can find the Top Movies Chart, options rated by genre and purchases, and more.

Apple is also preparing support for Collaborative Playlists on Apple Music as the company also added the Favorites Playlist in this beta version. In addition, Apple Fitness+ users can choose to focus on the audio of the trainer or the song playing.

BGR will keep looking at what’s new with tvOS 17.2 beta 2 and report if we discover anything different, such as new tweaks or features. Apple is also seeding the second beta of iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, watchOS 10.2, and macOS Sonoma 14.2.

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iOS 17.2 beta cycle is at full speed as Apple seeds beta 2 of this upcoming operating system update. Unlike iOS 17.1, Cupertino is readying several features to iPhone users. Here’s what’s available with this version so far:

Journal app is here: Apple is finally making available the first version of the Journal app. Using on-device machine learning, it displays personalized suggestions that can inspire a user’s journal entry. Apple says that suggestions are intelligently curated from recent activity, including photos, people, places, workouts, and more, making it easy to start a journal entry, and scheduled notifications can help build a journaling habit.

Apple Fitness+ Audio Focus: It gives users the ability to prioritize the volume of the music or the trainers’ voices during an Apple Fitness+ workout.

Apple Music Collaborative Playlist: With this feature, you are able to invite friends to collaborate on playlists. They can add, reorder, and remove songs.

Turn off Listening History on Apple Music: iOS 17.2 brings a Focus Filter, which lets you turn off the Listening History feature.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Favorite Apple Music Playlist: After iOS 17.1 added the ability to favorite songs, Apple created a Favorite Playlist with all your songs.

Action Button tweaks: Apple has added a Translate button as a new option for the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action Button.

iMessage Contact Key Verification: Contact key verification allows you to manually verify who you are messaging with by comparing contact verification codes in person or over the phone. Conversations with people who have contact key verification turned on also receive automatic advanced protections to help prevent even very sophisticated attackers from impersonating anyone in a conversation.

React to a message with any sticker: With iOS 17.2, you can react with any sticker or memoji to a message. Just long-press a text, select Add Sticker, and choose one.

Catch-up arrow: A catch-up arrow is again available in the Messages app so you can easily go to the last message you saw;

If we learn about new features being added to iOS 17.2 beta 2, we will make sure to update our article with all the new features of this operating system update. Apple is also seeding the second testing version of iPadOS 17.2, macOS 14.2, watchOS 10.1, and tvOS 17.2.

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Despite the revamped Apple TV app on tvOS 17.2, it seems the first beta of the Apple TV system has added support for 3D movies. While no major TV manufacturer offers 3D displays anymore, this could hint at Apple getting everything ready ahead of the Apple Vision Pro release in early 2024.

This addition on tvOS 17.2 beta was spotted by FlatPanelsHD. According to the publication, when you search for movies on the iTunes Movie Store, some might appear with a new 3D logo. This logo resembles the Apple Vision Pro icon in addition to a “3D” written on it.

I tried to find for myself the 3D icon on the Apple TV running tvOS 17.2, but it didn’t appear. At the moment, it’s unclear if this support might be region-locked (US only, instead of globally) or if Apple removed this icon after media coverage on that matter.

Alongside Jurassic World Dominion, Pacific Rim Uprising, Trolls, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and Everest, there is already a good list of 3D movies available in the store:

• 47 Ronin
• Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away
• Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters
• Kung Fu Panda 3
• Mortal Engines
• Sanctum
• Shrek
• Skyscraper
• Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas
• The Boss Baby: Family Business
• The Little Princess
• The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature
• The Secret Life of Pets 2
• Trolls World Tour
• Warcraft

At the moment, it’s impossible to take advantage of these movies in 3D due to lack of hardware – although some developers testing the Apple Vision Pro might have a first hands-on of immersive movies on the spatial headset.

Apple has also been reportedly readying a new immersive video 3D format for its productions. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, an upcoming Apple TV+ show, is rumored to have been shot in this format.

tvOS 17.2 is rumored to launch later this year. Apple Vision Pro will launch in the US in early 2024.

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Some iPhone buyers and developers have been asking Apple for years to support sideloading on iPhone, as well as third-party app stores and third-party payment systems. Apple has never budged on these issues. But iOS and the App Store have been declared gatekeepers in Europe. That means Apple will have to open them to competing services.

I already told you that sideloading and third-party app stores are imminent on the iPhone. The same goes for third-party payment systems. Should iMessage also get the gatekeeper designation, Apple will have to open it to rivals — and Google is dying to have RCS support in iMessage.

Apple has never announced these iPhone features for the Europan Union (EU). However, the iPhone maker filed new paperwork with the SEC that essentially confirms these changes are coming to the App Store experience in Europe. In turn, the changes might impact Apple’s bottom line.

Apple noted in previous interviews it would comply with new regulations in Europe, like the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It did so without committing to an actual rollout schedule for iOS changes that would enable sideloading and third-party app stores on iPhones in the region.

Rumors said these iOS features would be available only locally. International users will be unable to circumvent strong geolocation protections that prevent non-Europeans from sideloading apps on iPhones.

The six companies and 22 services the EU considers gatekeepers under the new DMA law. Image source: European Commission

Apple still needs to explain how it plans to implement support for App Store rivals, and how sideloading support will work. But the company addressed the incoming changes in a new 10-K filing:

The Company [Apple] expects to make further business changes in the future, including as a result of legislative initiatives impacting the App Store, such as the European Union (“EU”) Digital Markets Act, which the Company is required to comply with by March 2024.

The Company is also subject to litigation and investigations relating to the App Store, which have resulted in changes to the Company’s business practices, and may in the future result in further changes. Changes have included how developers communicate with consumers outside the App Store regarding alternative purchasing mechanisms. Future changes could also affect what the Company charges developers for access to its platforms, how it manages distribution of apps outside of the App Store, and how and to what extent it allows developers to communicate with consumers inside the App Store regarding alternative purchasing mechanisms

Apple warns that the imminent changes “could reduce the volume of sales, and the commission that the Company earns on those sales, would decrease.” Apple is forced to make these disclosures, of course. But it doesn’t have to go into specifics. That’s why the language above doesn’t include references to sideloading or third-party app stores.

Analysts from Morgan Stanley wrote in a research note late Tuesday TechCrunch saw that Apple will enable App Store changes in Europe. The company will “likely begin 3rd party app stores on devices in Europe.”

However, the analysts believe that “Apple is well positioned to compete should these changes take place due to the App Store’s security, centralization, and convenience, limiting the potential user experience and/or P&L impact.”

Since I live in Europe, I will have access to third-party app stores and iPhone sideloading once Apple enables them. But I don’t plan on ever taking advantage of these changes. And Morgan Stanley perfectly captures why I prefer the current iPhone experience. The App Store is just too convenient and secure for me to even consider all of the risks that are unavoidable with sideloading and third-party app stores.

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