When I posted the earlier story about the unauthorized version I wondered how Facebook/WhatsApp were going to tackle the issue.

Well, they decided to start banning users of the WhatsApp Plus app for 24 hours and posted the following within the FAQ section on the official WhatsApp website: Why am I banned for using WhatsApp Plus and how do I get unbanned?

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.



According to the Hacker News, a large number of users have started complaining on Social media websites that they are being banned from the messaging service for 24 hours. Though the ban is temporary and the users facing the issue now could access their app after the period of 24 hours.

I can't imagine that this will be the end of it - as some will just continue using the unauthorized version after the 24 hours is up. We'll have to wait and see how this develops.