Whatsapp, one of the world's most popular communication platform – the owners even claim it has more messages and regular users than Twitter – has announced it is finally going free on iOS – at least for the first year. After that, you'll need to cough up the princely sum of one dollar, to continue using it.

While this is the same sort of deal that Android and Blackberry versions of the app have had for some time, it's only now that the iOS version is following suit. As TechCrunch points out though, this was on the cards for sometime, so is more of a pleasant arrival than a piece of surprising news.

With over 200 million users, whatsapp can afford to go freemium

However, what existing users will be pleased to hear, is that since you've already paid for the app, you will have a lifetime subscription to the service and won't be required to pay again for it after a year of usage.

Whatsapp, for those that don't know, allows users to send messages and images to each other using their data allowance, instead of using traditional text messaging services. This means that they can avoid high costs when sending messages overseas or in large numbers.

Kitguru Says: I'm not a massive Whatsapp user, but I use it to keep in touch with my Dutch pal. Works well. [Thanks TechCrunch]

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