Gone are the days when 'unlimited texts' were an essential part of a monthly mobile phone contract. Instead, people are more likely to communicate with their friends using messaging apps. WhatsApp now handles 30 billion messages every day, making it 50% more popular than SMS.

Smartphones are no longer just a means of communicating. They wake us up, get us from A to B and even help us find love. We’ve almost forgotten their original purpose. Text trumps voicecalls and apps trump SMS – it’s a good time to ask – what’s the future of the mobile phone?

WhatsApp is the world's most popular messaging service - and now it’s becoming the most private. The app is introducing end-to-end encryption to all texts with open-source software Textsecure, so no third party will be able to read messages - not even WhatsApp.

From messaging to social media to a marketplace to browsing the internet, WeChat is the app the does everything. While Western companies and app developers race to unbundle their services into efficient single-purpose apps, WeChat continues to add feature after feature.