Will you be able to use WhatsApp, Facebook on Reliance Jio Phone?

The company is planning to launch it in the second half of August. However, it could not be ascertained if the handsets will be sold by Reliance Retail or Jio.

Undoubtedly, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani has surprised everyone in the 40th Annual General Meeting of the company by announcing Jio phone at an effective price of Rs 0. The Jio phone offers life long free voice calls bundled with 4G data streaming.

The company is planning to launch it in the second half of August. However, it could not be ascertained if the handsets will be sold by Reliance Retail or Jio.

The phone, targeted at 50 crore feature phone users in the country, will be available for pre-booking from August 24 on payment of a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500.This deposit will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone, he said, adding that the price of the phone will be "effective zero".

However, the surprise has led to many queries among mobile users. They want to know whether they will be able to use WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook on the Reliance Jio feature phone. As of now, there is no facility to use WhatsApp on Reliance Jio phone, according to Youtuber Technical Guruji. But, YouTube and Facebook apps will be available on the Reliance Jio feature phone.

Out of the 78 crore phones in India, Ambani said, 50 crore are feature phones that cannot be used for Internet or data usage. The new phone would give "affordable" device to these 50 crore users and "end the digital exclusion in India".

(With agency inputs)