Reliance JioPhone, which run on KaiOS, a Linux-based light mobile Operating System (OS), may soon get WhatsApp.
According to Wabetainfo.com, a fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early, as of February 2018 KaiOS Technologies have acquired many new partners, including Facebook that also owns the popular messaging platform. This could indicate that the smart feature phone from Reliance Jio is readying to provide the WhatsApp messaging app to its users. Reliance JioPhone users can currently download the Facebook app on the phone. "The highly-coveted social media app has made its way to KaiOS-powered feature phones. This partnership supports access to Facebook via a native KaiOS app, thus allowing more users to connect with their friends and families," KaiOS wrote in a blog post last month.
"After stopping support for BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone 8, the Facebook-owned messaging platform is focusing to develop the app for this platform, providing an app for JioPhones," Wabetainfo reported. WhatsApp also recently dropped support for Nokia S40 and BlackBerry OS platforms.
Kai OS originates from the Firefox OS open-source project started in 2011 and has continued independently from Mozilla since 2016. KaiOS was first launched publicly in the US market in 2017 followed by the Indian market with the JioPhone.
The mobile OS supports 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS and is compatible with chipsets from major manufacturers.