WhatsApp has decided to strengthen its policy against cloned apps from the popular instant messaging service. Because it violates the terms of use and does not provide adequate security, WhatsApp is now authorized to block all users who use this unofficial application.
On its official blog, WhatsApp has just announced its entry into the war against cloned apps. In particular, these WhatsApp replacements such as GB WhatsApp or WhatsApp plus offer additional functions that cannot be found in the “native” application. For example, they allow you to automatically reply to messages, exceed the 250 word limit in grouped messages, send more photos, or hide receipts. Also, keep in mind that some of them turn out to be scams or contain malicious software like WhatsApp Pink.
This unofficial app is developed by an anonymous developer and is only available for download outside the Google Play Store. They are designed to be very popular and reach millions of users worldwide. Only in the eyes of WhatsApp this third-party application violates the Terms of Service. On one of their help pages, the leading app team from the meta group clarified their position on the topic.
WhatsApp no longer wants to see clone apps
“ Unsupported apps, like WhatsApp Plus, GB WhatsApp, or other apps claiming to transfer your WhatsApp chats between your phones, are altered versions of WhatsApp. These unofficial apps are developed by third parties and violate our terms of use. WhatsApp does not support these third party applications because we cannot verify their security practices ”, they assure.
In fact, users who use these clones will able now be to see access to their account “temporarily blocked” . To lift this restriction, you will have to log in again to the official version of WhatsApp. However, if you persist in using these third-party applications, you may be permanently banned:
“ If you do not switch to the official app after being temporarily blocked, your account could be permanently banned and you will no longer be able to use WhatsApp,” warns the instant messaging app. If you are a WhatsApp Plus or GB WhatsApp user, the company has just shared the procedure for saving and transferring conversations to the official app.
How to save your WhatsApp conversations
From GB WhatsApp
- Go to More options> Discussions> Chat backup
- Then go to your smartphone settings, then Storage> Files
- Get your hands on the GB WhatsApp folder and rename it WhatsApp
- Download the official WhatsApp app from the Google Play Store if necessary
- Connect and restore the backup from your device’s internal memory
From WhatsApp Plus
- Go to settings and make sure that chat backup is enabled
- Download the official WhatsApp app from the Google Play Store if necessary
- Connect to WhatsApp: all old conversations should be there