WhatsApp expanding subscription model to iOS

WhatsApp, the popular cross-market mobile messaging application, has announced it will be expanding its annual subscription model to iOS.

Currently, the app has a one-time $1 upfront fee for iOS. On Android, the app is free but the service costs $1 per year. The same goes for BlackBerry and Windows Phone.

“We’re relaxed on dates, but definitely this year. It’s on the road map,” Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s CEO, said in an interview.

WhatsApp has over 130 million users, and 17 billion messages are sent and received daily, making it hugely popular, especially within Android.

When asked if the company is working on a desktop version of the service, Koum says they are not. “We get that question asked a lot. We feel strongly that the world is moving to mobile and [so] we want to be mobile-only. Your phone is with you all the time, and desktop is to many becoming a secondary experience. [So] our answer is no, not anytime soon.”