That is the case, but banning it just for a few weeks will change that without much disruption.
Most people are aware that Signal exist and switch the moment WhatsApp stops working.
That was unexpected and unannounced. Saying "WhatsApp will go offline from the 1st of next month" would be very different.
Especially because WhatsApp _uses phone numbers as identifiers_. Switching to Signal or Telegram, which also use phone numbers, would be completely feasible: recreating the same groups would be the biggest annoyance, but you have all your contacts as soon as they install the app.
People will of course be very bothered by losing their chat histories (can you decrypt the backups it creates in Google Drive?), but it won't be an actual show-stopper. And it will teach a valuable lesson on relying on cloud.
scrollaway|2 years ago
Last time WhatsApp was down for just a few hours it made international news.
piaste|2 years ago
Especially because WhatsApp _uses phone numbers as identifiers_. Switching to Signal or Telegram, which also use phone numbers, would be completely feasible: recreating the same groups would be the biggest annoyance, but you have all your contacts as soon as they install the app.
People will of course be very bothered by losing their chat histories (can you decrypt the backups it creates in Google Drive?), but it won't be an actual show-stopper. And it will teach a valuable lesson on relying on cloud.