WhatsApp processed a record 18 billion messages on December 31

WhatsApp has just confirmed its newest record—on December 31, the service saw a record 18 billion messages being processed. The total number of messages comprised 7 billion inbound messages and 11 billion outbound messages. In a tweet on its official handle some time ago, WhatsApp stated, "On Dec 31st we had a new record day: 7B msgs inbound, 11B msgs outbound = 18 billion total messages processed in one day! Happy 2013!!!" 

It was only in August last year that WhatsApp managed to record 10 billion messages—comprising 6 billion outbound and 4 billion inbound messages. The company stated: "new daily record: 4B inbound, 6B outbound = 10B total messages a day! #freebsd #erlang". WhatsApp attributed the difference in the number of outbound and inbound messages to group chats.

New record for WhatsApp

WhatsApp Messenger is a popular mobile messaging service for smartphone users and is available across a variety of platforms, including Android, iOS and Windows Phone. 

Services like WhatsApp Messenger are being viewed as an alternative to send unlimited SMSes, but WhatsApp has denied that it is a threat to telephone carriers and the money that they earn from SMS messages. Instead, its co-founder, Brian Acton, said in an interview that WhatsApp was helping carriers move their customers to data packages that would, in the long term, prove more profitable. "I view it from the perspective that we're facilitating a broad movement to data plans and the entities that provide those plans are the carriers, so they stand to benefit quite substantially," he said. "It's all about the data."

In celebration of the holiday season, Whatsapp had announced the iOS version of the app would be free for a limited period. "Happy Holidays! WhatsApp for iPhone is free for a limited time. Tell your friends!" the company tweeted. Though there was no indication of exactly how long the "limited time" would last, it was assumed that it would last throughout the holiday season and will go back to its normal money-costing ways after December 25. 

WhatsApp recently made a comeback to Windows Phone 8 devices after a period of absence. However, it seems to lack many features that were already present in its Windows Phone 7 counterpart. The app can be downloaded for free from the WhatsApp download page. One of the more glaring omissions from the Windows Phone 8 version of the app is the emoticons pack that the messenger has become famous for. The app also seems to lack fast resume from the live tiles, among other features that are usually present in Windows Phone 8 apps.