WhatsApp Messenger

For most of the planet, this is simply 'texting.' WhatsApp, from Meta, is a free messaging and video-calling app used by over 2 billion people in more than 180 countries — 10B+ downloads on this listing — and its pitch has never changed: simple, reliable, private, with no subscription fees.

Privacy is structural, not a setting: personal messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default, so no one outside your chats — not even WhatsApp, it stresses — can read or listen to them. Group chats are encrypted the same way. Getting started takes only your phone number: no usernames, no logins, and the app quickly shows which of your contacts are already on it.

The feature set is deliberately unshowy and complete: high-quality voice and video calls with up to 32 people at once, across mobile and desktop and even on slow connections; live location sharing inside a chat, for exactly as long as you allow it; and Status, for text, photo, video and GIF updates that disappear after 24 hours. A Wear OS watch can keep conversations going — reply and take calls from the wrist.

The fine print is honest too: calls are free in the app, but data charges may apply, and some regions verify your number by SMS. Reception is the strongest of the catalog's giants — 4.6 stars at a scale where scores usually sag (its shelf-mate Google Maps sits at 3.3 on the same 10B+ count). If there is one app your family, your team and your plumber all share, it's this one.