KaiOS Comes With App Store, WhatsApp Finally Coming to JioPhone?

The smart feature phone OS could finally support the popular messaging app.

New set of apps will be available for devices running on the platform. 

(Photo Courtesy: KaiOS)

You might not be familiar with KaiOS but this mobile-centric platform has recently overtaken Apple’s iOS to become the second-most popular mobile OS in India. How did that happen? It’s all because of Reliance Jio and its effectively free JioPhone which was launched last year.

In addition to the JioPhone, HMD Global’s Nokia 8110 4G is the other device that runs on this operating system (yet to launch in the market).

So, it’s good to see that the guys at KaiOS aren’t resting on their laurels, and working towards offering more apps on its platform. “The KaiStore will go live in several countries in May. We expect the KaiStore to be live in most countries and on most devices by the end of 2018”, statement from KaiOS confirmed.

This week, the company revealed its plans to offer KaiOS app store, comprising of popular apps like Facebook, Twitter and Google Assistant among others. But that’s not all, we came across another app which could finally hit the platform.

According to a post by the KaiOS team, which also includes a video, we came across the set of apps that the KaiStore will offer in the coming months. As you can see below, WhatsApp finally shows up in public, likely to be of the KaiStore.

WhatsApp finally coming to KaiOS? (Photo Courtesy: KaiOS)

Upon launch, we have many of the world’s most popular apps, like Facebook, Twitter, and several from Google (Google Maps, Google Search, and the Google Assistant). In the coming months, many more titles will be added in categories like gaming, streaming entertainment, travel, social media, and health.

<a href="https://www.kaiostech.com/apps-feature-phones-everything-need-know-kaistore/">KaiOS Blog</a>

These apps coming to KaiOS. (Photo Courtesy: KaiOS)

Does that mean JioPhone users can finally expect the popular messaging app (owned by Facebook) to work on their device? Interestingly, KaiOS mentions that even though JioPhone runs on KaiOS, the phone’s app store content is managed by Reliance Jio.

While JioPhone has picked up a majority share in the feature phone segment, surpassing brands like Samsung and Micromax, bringing WhatsApp to the platform could strengthen their position further.