Reliance JioPhone could get WhatsApp support

Reliance Jio announced the JioPhone last month at the AGM of Reliance Industries Ltd. The phone did cause ripples in the industry by offering impressive features such as voice-based control as well as the possibility to view movies on a television by streaming over the Jio network. One significant drawback, though, was the absence of WhatsApp. If latest reports are something to go by, Reliance Jio might just be overcoming that barrier.

According to a report by Factor Daily, Reliance Jio is in talks with WhatsApp to bring the messenger service to the JioPhone. The report quotes a source who said “there have been a few meetings between Reliance Jio officials and WhatsApp officials… but the discussions are preliminary”. The second source said, “The talks are on. We already have a relationship with Facebook… There are technical challenges. A version (of Whatsapp) is needed that will work optimally on the JioPhone.”

With over 200 million users, India is an important market WhatsApp. Despite speculation, there’s currently no confirmation on a KaiOS version of WhatsApp. On the other hand, during the live demonstration, the app interface did show that the phone will launch with the Facebook app

What’s interesting to note is that Reliance Jio had back then announced that the phone will come with a bunch of Jio apps. However, JioChat, with over 125 million subscribers was missing from the list. Maybe now we know why.

Reliance JioPhone, when announced, came with little to no clarity on the processor that powered the feature phone. Now, reports suggest that the phone will be powered by the recently announced Qualcomm 205 chipset and some variants will also come powered by a Spreadtrum SoC. Reliance Jio is yet to comment on the same.