{"id":579,"date":"2025-11-12T20:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familie-kleinman.nl\/brain\/?p=579"},"modified":"2025-11-12T20:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:01:09","slug":"the-art-of-de-optimization-whatsapps-bold-new-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familie-kleinman.nl\/brain\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/the-art-of-de-optimization-whatsapps-bold-new-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of De-Optimization: WhatsApp\u2019s Bold New Direction"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Because Who Needs Efficiency Anyway?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"335\" data-end=\"485\">The WhatsApp Windows application is going to be completely revamped soon. The native app is going to be replaced by a version based upon WebView2.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"335\" data-end=\"485\">source: <a href=\"https:\/\/tweakers.net\/nieuws\/241382\/whatsapp-vernieuwt-app-voor-windows-gebruikt-tot-tien-keer-meer-geheugen.html\">https:\/\/tweakers.net\/nieuws\/241382\/whatsapp-vernieuwt-app-voor-windows-gebruikt-tot-tien-keer-meer-geheugen.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"335\" data-end=\"485\">That sounds rather uninteresting at first, but there\u2019s a large <em data-start=\"550\" data-end=\"555\">but<\/em> \u2014 actually, several.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">The WebView2 application is insanely bad in resource usage, and that\u2019s even an understatement. The native application only uses around <strong data-start=\"717\" data-end=\"726\">18 MB<\/strong> of memory when idle and not logged in.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">The new WebView2 version? Around <strong data-start=\"801\" data-end=\"811\">300 MB<\/strong>, just to sit there and do absolutely nothing. That\u2019s a sixteen-fold increase, for the privilege of opening a glorified browser tab.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"300\" data-end=\"549\">If you don\u2019t know the WebView2 framework, it is basically a complete browser encapsulated into a container with some additional diddles and doodles here and there.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"300\" data-end=\"549\">So yes \u2014 the native application is replaced by a <strong data-start=\"515\" data-end=\"546\">containerized shitty webapp<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"300\" data-end=\"549\"><strong data-start=\"551\" data-end=\"569\">GOOD JOB META!<\/strong> \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">Once logged in, the native app consumes roughly <strong data-start=\"997\" data-end=\"1007\">200 MB<\/strong>, while the new version climbs all the way up to <strong data-start=\"1058\" data-end=\"1068\">1.2 GB<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">Yes, you read that correctly \u2014 <em data-start=\"1103\" data-end=\"1119\">six times more<\/em>, to send the same message saying \u201cok\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">This isn\u2019t modernization; it\u2019s <strong data-start=\"1193\" data-end=\"1221\">de-optimization at scale<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"402\">And if the application itself keeps working as-is \u2014 or better \u2014 that could still be overlooked. Performance trade-offs happen; that\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"402\">But the new WebView2 app doesn\u2019t just use more memory \u2014 it <strong data-start=\"463\" data-end=\"480\">reacts slower<\/strong>, feels clunky, and sometimes <strong data-start=\"510\" data-end=\"552\">fails to send notifications altogether<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"402\">Great!<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"402\">So this upcoming \u201cupdate\u201d is actually a <strong data-start=\"606\" data-end=\"619\">downgrade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"578\">Meta basically fired the engineers who built a lean native client and replaced them with a wrapper that eats RAM for breakfast.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">And here I am, trying to squeeze the last millisecond of performance out of my own code. Tweaking database queries, trimming loops, making small changes to my cluster to reduce SSD wear and save a few drive writes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">Basically trying to be a professional and responsible software developer who\u2019s proud of what he builds.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">Meanwhile, Meta will be rolling out this <strong data-start=\"520\" data-end=\"536\">de-optimized<\/strong> version of WhatsApp to millions of computers \u2014 each one running a full browser instance to display a chat window.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">And together, all of those \u201csmall inefficiencies\u201d add up to a <strong data-start=\"715\" data-end=\"746\">massive global energy drain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">Again \u2014 well done, Meta!<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\">Or, put in other words\u2026<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"477\"><strong data-start=\"1059\" data-end=\"1082\">SHAME ON YOU, META!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Get your shit together.<\/p>\n<p>Re-hire the original native app developers if you have to \u2014but do <strong data-start=\"2632\" data-end=\"2639\">not<\/strong> roll out this disgrace of an \u201cupdate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brain out!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Because Who Needs Efficiency Anyway? The WhatsApp Windows application is going to be completely revamped soon. The native app is going to be replaced by a version based upon WebView2. source: https:\/\/tweakers.net\/nieuws\/241382\/whatsapp-vernieuwt-app-voor-windows-gebruikt-tot-tien-keer-meer-geheugen.html That sounds rather uninteresting at first, but there\u2019s a large but \u2014 actually, several. The WebView2 application is insanely bad in resource usage,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,96,124],"tags":[358,355,73,357,356],"class_list":["post-579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coding","category-computers","category-rant","tag-disgrace","tag-meta","tag-update","tag-webview2","tag-whatsapp"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Art of De-Optimization: WhatsApp\u2019s Bold New Direction - Brain&#039;s Ramblings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WhatsApp replaces its lean native Windows app with a bloated WebView2 version that uses up to ten times more memory. 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