zlacker

>>jhoho+(OP)
I went down a 1-minute rabbithole. I hate Whatsapp, but it's not optional. So I was curious if it's compatible.

There's a Sailfish help page [0] showing how to get the APK from Aptoide, or downloading directly from Whatsapp.com .

But with Google killing off 'sideloading', is it credible that independent APK sources are going to dry up in future?

[0] https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Help_Articles/Whatsapp_S...

>>afandi+Yd
”I hate Whatsapp, but it's not optional”

Yes it is.

>>clucki+Zv
While WhatsApp is not very much used in the US, in some other countries such as Brazil it is basically the primary form of "phone" communication. It is everyone's default text, voice and video message platform. People don't ask if you have WhatsApp there, they just assume it. You talk to your Bank/Investor manager using WhatsApp. You order pizza through WhatsApp. Customer Support for services is WhatsApp bots that send you to the correct places. If I don't have WhatsApp, I can't voice chat with my mom, she won't see her grandkids. If you have any sort of business, you need WhatsApp.

And yes, I do have Signal installed, and there are only 2 people who talk to me through it (one being my partner).

Phone carriers got too greedy charging for every single SMS message and phone call, WhatsApp took over when smartphones became popular.

>>dyingk+tA
This. Some people just don't realize how pervasive and essential WhatsApp is in some countries, mine included.

I'd much rather use Signal but that's not realistic.

>>sombra+pN
But isn't it a timebomb waiting to blow up eventually? Like, Meta fucks something up with it and there is nothing you can do.

IIRC South Korea used to be fully depedent on a horrendous AcriveX applet running only in Internet Explorer for all their online services, yet they eventually managed to get rid of it. It should be possible here as well.