WhatsApp is dropping its annual subscription fee to go free for all users.

The Facebook-owned messaging service will end its $1 (69p) annual subscription immediately its chief executive confirmed.

The app was previously free to download and users were asked to pay the subscription fee annually after the first year.

Before that the app cost a small fee to download from the App Store.

WhatsApp's chief executive Jan Koum told a conference in Germany the removal of fees does not mean ads will be introduced to the service, and it will monetise through businesses communicating with individuals.

Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion (£13.2 billion) in 2014, and says the subscription fee has harmed growth in developing countries, where the app has become hugely popular.