Messaging app WhatsApp has brought its iOS app in line with other platforms by introducing a subscription model with its latest update.

Users of the app on iOS will be able to use the service for free for the first year and be charged $0.99 per year after that. iPhone users already using WhatsApp will continue to use the service for free for their lifetime.

iPhone users were previously charged a one-time payment of $0.99 whereas users of other platforms, including Android, were subject to the subscription model.

The update has also introduced API hooks to make it easier for iOS developers to interface with WhatsApp.

In addition, iPhone users can now also back-up their message history to Apple’s iCloud, available via Chat Settings. The company worked on this functionality for six months to make it as simple and user-friendly as possible.

When users reinstall the app on another device, they will be prompted to restore from iCloud during the initialisation process.