WhatsApp CEO says Apple does not want people to use Android phones

• WhatsApp CEO launches scathing attacks at Apple
• It's in Apple's interest to ensure people don't use Android phones, says WhatsApp CEO
• "You don’t see a label for iMessage when you download it because you don’t download it, it’s on your phone to begin with," he says

The rivalry between Facebook and Apple is quite old now and jabs from both camps have been directed at each other frequently. The latest was from WhatsApp CEO who said Apple does not want people to use Android phones.

Read more: WhatsApp to stop working on these iPhone models?

Speaking at the "Big Technology Podcast", WhatsApp CEP Will Cathcart said Apple's privacy labels were discriminatory as the company did not want people to use Android phones.

Cathcart said it is in Apple's interest to ensure people use iPhones.

"And you look at a place like the US, most people have an iPhone, and the messaging experience works better on iMessage if everyone else has an iPhone," he said. 

He said it was "certainly in their [Apple's] strategic interest" that people not use WhatsApp as they want people to not use an Android phone.

Many companies are not happy with Apple after the company rolled out its new privacy labels earlier this year and had said that its App Tracking Transparency framework would also go live soon. 

As per these live labels, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp collect more data than other apps.

Cathcart said whatever may be the purpose of these apps, it is a fact that WhatsApp competes with iMessage.

"In the US more people use iMessage than WhatsApp. You don’t see a label for iMessage when you download it because you don’t download it, it’s on your phone to begin with. And so, we were critical of that," he said.

Apple’s ‘Labels’ page has all the information about data that is collected by in-house apps. For apps like iMessage that already in the phone and can’t be removed, Apple has labels for these on their website.

Saying that WhatsApp's user base is very "Android heavy", Cathcart said he himself uses an Android phone.

"I also use an iPad, I’ve used iPhones for many years, but I really want to actually use the product in the way most people are using it, so I use an Android. A lot of people use both or go back and forth because we’re building our products for both and you got to understand them all.," he added.