WhatsApp Use in Contests and Task Sharing

I just had my first competition this weekend, we were added to a WhatsApp group for notifications on gridding/first start etc.

We used Soaringspot.com for sharing airspace and cup files, and that was it.

I hate to have to install a new app for every occasion. There is one for the grocery store, one(actually several) for paying parking tickets, another for booking train ticktes, a third for your bank etc. and now for receive competition information( yes they used WhatsUp for EGC I Prividiza, they used another for the WGC in Poland last year)

All these apps collects and distribute data from your phone. It was impossible to use WhatsUp without sharing all you phones contacts to the maker of the WhatsUp. I´m not shore that my old mom agrees on that I have given her number and address to someone which I have no idea how they will use the information in the future. Luckily for me is that she is unaware of this 😊

WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

I am not a Luddite, have used GPS for 20 years and LORAN before that. I have a smartphone and use IGCdroid and GliderLink. But I have a healthy suspicion of the mega-corp spyware. To repeat one of the comments quoted by Jamie to start this thread: "why not stick to the standards, SMS text messages, email, and a web page (a real web site, please not Facebook). Put downloadable documents (task sheets, weather forecasts, grid sheets, etc) on the web site. If they are suitable stand-alone files (PDF, JPG, PNG) they can be downloaded into the mobile devices for later off-line use."

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 7:32:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

I am not a Luddite, have used GPS for 20 years and LORAN before that. I have a smartphone and use IGCdroid and GliderLink. But I have a healthy suspicion of the mega-corp spyware. To repeat one of the comments quoted by Jamie to start this thread: "why not stick to the standards, SMS text messages, email, and a web page (a real web site, please not Facebook). Put downloadable documents (task sheets, weather forecasts, grid sheets, etc) on the web site. If they are suitable stand-alone files (PDF, JPG, PNG) they can be downloaded into the mobile devices for later off-line use."

In an International competition, not everybody will have a "local" phone. In this case SMS / text - particularly with attached media - costs significantly more than using something like WhatsApp.
And I hate Facebook (parent of WhatsApp) too.
Jim

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 12:21:09 PM UTC-4, JS wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 7:32:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

I am not a Luddite, have used GPS for 20 years and LORAN before that. I have a smartphone and use IGCdroid and GliderLink. But I have a healthy suspicion of the mega-corp spyware. To repeat one of the comments quoted by Jamie to start this thread: "why not stick to the standards, SMS text messages, email, and a web page (a real web site, please not Facebook). Put downloadable documents (task sheets, weather forecasts, grid sheets, etc) on the web site. If they are suitable stand-alone files (PDF, JPG, PNG) they can be downloaded into the mobile devices for later off-line use."

In an International competition, not everybody will have a "local" phone. In this case SMS / text - particularly with attached media - costs significantly more than using something like WhatsApp.
And I hate Facebook (parent of WhatsApp) too.
Jim

The text messages should be plain SMS without attachments, and only have links to the "media", which should be stored on the event's web page. And contestants should be able to choose email rather than SMS (still only links).. And hopefully be able to get within range of WiFi before downloading anything large - at the time/location and using the tools of their choice. "Don't call us, we'll call you."

If WiFi is not available then WhatsApp would also be expensive or unavailable to some, no? Conversely, some places (including both of the airports where I fly, in the USA) don't have cellphone coverage, at least for some (major) service providers.

Whatsapp is pretty universal, has very broad capability, is a known to be
secure system.

at 1.5bn users, it's pretty well tested.

As a data sharing app, it's perfect.

Getting some of the old farts onboard with it is a lost cause. Half of them

think phones are used to call people . . :-)

On Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:45:13 UTC+3, wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 12:21:09 PM UTC-4, JS wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 7:32:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc.. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

I am not a Luddite, have used GPS for 20 years and LORAN before that. I have a smartphone and use IGCdroid and GliderLink. But I have a healthy suspicion of the mega-corp spyware. To repeat one of the comments quoted by Jamie to start this thread: "why not stick to the standards, SMS text messages, email, and a web page (a real web site, please not Facebook). Put downloadable documents (task sheets, weather forecasts, grid sheets, etc) on the web site. If they are suitable stand-alone files (PDF, JPG, PNG) they can be downloaded into the mobile devices for later off-line use."

In an International competition, not everybody will have a "local" phone. In this case SMS / text - particularly with attached media - costs significantly more than using something like WhatsApp.
And I hate Facebook (parent of WhatsApp) too.
Jim

The text messages should be plain SMS without attachments, and only have links to the "media", which should be stored on the event's web page. And contestants should be able to choose email rather than SMS (still only links). And hopefully be able to get within range of WiFi before downloading anything large - at the time/location and using the tools of their choice.

This is exatcly how we did things 20 years ago.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 12:45:13 PM UTC-4, wrote:

The text messages should be plain SMS without attachments, and only have links to the "media", which should be stored on the event's web page. And contestants should be able to choose email rather than SMS (still only links). And hopefully be able to get within range of WiFi before downloading anything large - at the time/location and using the tools of their choice. "Don't call us, we'll call you."

If WiFi is not available then WhatsApp would also be expensive or unavailable to some, no? Conversely, some places (including both of the airports where I fly, in the USA) don't have cellphone coverage, at least for some (major) service providers.

SMS is by design an unreliable system for sending token messages for password resets. Something like 5 percent of messages are never delivered and a larger fraction are delayed. I'd find it completely incredible that someone would advocate the use of this for group messaging in 2019 but here we are having a discussion via another obsolete curiosity that predates the Web.

WhatsApp works seamlessly across many types of devices, delivers messages reliably, works with any source of connectivity, is widely installed, can deliver a message over 160 characters in length without jumbling it, and can even transmit a photo. Bruce makes a strong case for Telegram. Either way these apps are faster and more reliable than email or SMS.

Unlike many email clients WhatsApp will automatically resize media to ensure quick and affordable transmission. That is one reason it became popular worldwide. Unlike email your messages will not be bounced back for arbitrary reasons at the destination.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 9:21:09 AM UTC-7, JS wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 7:32:27 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
WhatsApp groups used in all our comps, pics of gridlists, tasks etc. distributed smoothly to everyone (plus SoaringSpot, where you can download the task straight to devices). Printed papers available for luddites, of course, you don't want to mess with them as they just were forced into GPS-age.

I am not a Luddite, have used GPS for 20 years and LORAN before that. I have a smartphone and use IGCdroid and GliderLink. But I have a healthy suspicion of the mega-corp spyware. To repeat one of the comments quoted by Jamie to start this thread: "why not stick to the standards, SMS text messages, email, and a web page (a real web site, please not Facebook). Put downloadable documents (task sheets, weather forecasts, grid sheets, etc) on the web site. If they are suitable stand-alone files (PDF, JPG, PNG) they can be downloaded into the mobile devices for later off-line use."

In an International competition, not everybody will have a "local" phone. In this case SMS / text - particularly with attached media - costs significantly more than using something like WhatsApp.
And I hate Facebook (parent of WhatsApp) too.

I also hate Facebook, but WhatsApp is a great app.

If you're worried about giving away your phone number and contacts list to FaceBook then Telegram is a great alternative. Its author, Pavel Durov, is a privacy and freedom nut (in a good way). He made vk.com, the "Russian Facebook" and then when the Russian government basically stole it from him he (and his brother) exiled themselves and set about making Telegram.

On Telegram you can let people contact you either by account nickname or by phone number. You don't have to tell the app your phone number if you don't want. Like WhatsApp it works well both in a desktop browser and in the mobile app. It's got end to end encryption good enough that it simultaneously ****es off the Russian authorities because they can't break it AND both lawmakers and dissidents trust it to protect their privacy.