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Document Sharing Comes to WhatsApp

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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Need to share a document quickly? There are so many apps for that, from Dropbox to OneDrive. And of course there's email, AirPlay, and even the good old USB thumb drive. Now, WhatsApp is joining the document sharing fray.

Some users of the 7-year-old, Facebook-owned messaging service are reporting the appearance of a document-sharing feature when they update to the latest version of the app. TechCrunch has a walkthrough of how it works on iOS; it's also available on Android, but not Windows Phone.

Only PDFs are currently supported, but as Adobe Reader's monopoly on PDF creation crumbles, PDFs cover pretty much any document you'd want to send, from boarding passes to exported Google docs.

WhatsApp passed the one billion user mark as of Feb. 1. It's also undergone some fairly sizeable shifts to its product and business model in recent weeks, as it seeks to capture even more of the mobile messaging market. Perhaps the biggest change is the fact that users no longer have to pay a $1 yearly fee, which was abolished in January.

It faces some competition from Google, which recently launched an effort to improve traditional text messaging, and Yahoo, which is beefing up its Messenger service. It's also been roped in to the recent encryption debate, with a Facebook executive arrested in Brazil for refusing to comply with a judge's request to hand over encrypted WhatsApp messages in a drug-trafficking investigation.

Still, WhatsApp is confident in its future growth. So confident, in fact, that it can afford to end support for legacy devices by the end of 2016, including all BlackBerry phones.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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