After waiting for months, JioPhone users finally have the confirmation to get WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube apps soon. Since the launch of the feature phone, its users were missing out on accessing the three key apps. At the recent Reliance Annual General Meeting, the company announced that the JioPhone users would soon get access to all the three apps.
JioPhone: Whatsapp, Facebook, Youtube Access From August 15
The announcement was made at the 41st RIL AGM by Mukesh Ambani’s daughter, Isha Ambani. JioPhone was launched in India, last year, as a budget feature phone with 4G connectivity, but the phone lacked support for some of the essential apps. WhatsApp is undeniably the most popular app used by a majority of Indians while Facebook is also in the same league. Google-owned YouTube is the go-to platform for video streaming for most of the users. Until now, JioPhone users were missing out on these apps. However, starting August 15, 2018, they will be able to download these three apps.
To recall, JioPhone boots Linux-based KaiOS that equips the phone with functionality similar to an Android phone. JioPhone already had access to Google Assistant, thanks to Google. Reliance has now forged effective collaboration with Google and Facebook to bring Google Assistant, YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp on the phone. The addition of these apps makes the JioPhone the first KaiOS phone to have it. Makers of KaiOS have revealed that the JioPhone is the only feature phone running its operating system to get the support for the three apps, other KaiOS phones like the Nokia 8110 4G won’t get the access so soon.
According to a report by App Annie, India has emerged as the world’s fastest-growing mobile market for apps on both iOS and Android. The reports noted that Facebook is the most downloaded app on both the platforms while WhatsApp took the third place. WhatsApp has over 200 million users in India, and now that it will start supporting the JioPhone, we can expect these numbers to swell.
Google recently made an investment of whopping $22 million n KaiOS and has announced plans to bring apps like YouTube and Maps to the platform. When it does, we can expect other KaiOS running phones to get the support for a slew of apps under Google’s G-Suite. However, for now, JioPhone is the only 4G-enabled feature phone to receive the official support for WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube.
JioPhone: Specifications, Features
The JioPhone comes with a 2.4-inch display bearing 320×240 pixels resolution. It is powered by a 1.2GHz Spreadtrum SPRD 9820A/QC9805 processor clubbed with Adreno 304 GPU. The phone features 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. For optics, the phone sports a 2MP camera on the rear and a VGA camera on the front for selfies. It is backed by a 2000mAh battery, which is touted to deliver up to 12 hours of talk time. Connectivity options on the Jio Phone include Bluetooth 4.1, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, and USB 2.0.
Additionally, the phone supports up to 22 Indian languages including Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
The JioPhone comes bundled with a JioMediaCable that can be connected to any TV to watch videos via Jio apps such as Jio Movies on a larger screen.
JioPhone: Price in India
Concerning pricing, the Jio Phone can be purchased at a refundable downpayment of Rs. 1,500. The payment will be refunded after three years. However, to get the refund, the JioPhone users will have to recharge their JioPhone with specific recharge amounts at regular intervals.
