On May 19th 2022, WhatsApp launched Developer Experience - General Availability to enable businesses and developers globally to onboard and build on the Cloud API directly.
Mark Zuckerberg introduced the WhatsApp CloudAPI to the world on Instagram and Facebook.
The WhatsApp Business Cloud API enables businesses to chat with customers on their preferred channel through a customized experience that’s quick to implement. This critical launch enabled developers to:
Directly onboard and test the WhatsApp Cloud API within minutes
Effortlessly learn, build, and launch applications on our API
Reliably scale and monetize applications to grow their businesses on our API
1 — Key product miletones
Milestone 1 - November, 2021
Private Beta
~10 developers
US, Brazil, India
~ a few weeks
- User must provide and validate their own phone numbers to test.
- App review required (Meta Developer Platform requirement)
- Private API available to selected partners only
- Manual business verification
- Can only send messages via an OS’s terminal interface
- Users dropped off during Meta for Developers onboarding flow
- Self-served experience
Milestone 2 - March, 2022
Public Beta
~500 developers
US, Brazil, India
~ a few days
- Requires App Review
- Requires Biz verification and Display Name Review for Trust Tier
- Credit card payment not supported, relying on line of credit
- Users dropped off during Meta onboarding flow
- Private API -> Public API
- One-click self-serve onboarding
- User is provided with a test phone number
- Send messages directly from the dev console
- Explore the API more easily with Postman Collection
- Manage phone numbers more easily with Account Overview
Milestone 3 - March, 2022
General Availability
Global
Global
~ a few minutes
- Users dropped off during Meta onboarding flow
- Step-by-step Getting Started page
- CC-supported payment
- App Review removal
- Trust Tier (Business Verification and Display Name Review removal from onboarding)
