WhatsApp Gives Us Another Reason Not To Side-Load Apps

Those reports we see now and again about malware for Android always have a pretty strong narrative thread: don't download apps outside of the Play Store. When you side-load apps, you open yourself up to all kinds of bad things, which is typically when malware takes hold. WhatsApp Plus, an app created for use as a WhatsApp client, has been an issue for users lately. WhatsApp has begun issuing 24-hour bans for users, but it's not them — it's their app.

Via the FAQ section of WhatsApp's website, we find that WhatsApp Plus is operating in bad faith, at least to WhatsApp. Via the website:

WhatsApp Plus is an application that was not developed by WhatsApp, nor is it authorized by WhatsApp. The developers of WhatsApp Plus have no relationship to WhatsApp, and we do not support WhatsApp Plus. Please be aware that WhatsApp Plus contains source code which WhatsApp cannot guarantee as safe and that your private information is potentially being passed to 3rd parties without your knowledge or authorization.

Please uninstall your application and install an authorized version of WhatsApp from our website or Google Play. Then, you will be able to use WhatsApp.

There you have it. It's worth noting that WhatsApp Plus is not available on the Play Store, so it would have to be side-loaded.

Malware wasn't the issue here, but WhatsApp Plus was using WhatsApp's servers, meaning they were a the mercy of WhatsApp. Without the blessing of the service they were piggybacking onto, WhatsApp Plus has basically been banned, and their users will have to reacquaint themselves with WhatsApp.

Via: Android Central