TL;DR
- WhatsApp releases multi-device support for all users.
- The feature is still in Beta.
- All users can easily opt-in and opt-out of the beta.
After a frantic month from its parent company Meta, WhatsApp breaks the cycle of bad news that started about a month ago with the massive outage that also affected other all of the messaging services of the social media giant. WhatsApp is bringing Android and iOS users support for multiple devices that promises to finally alleviate one of the biggest problems of the platform.
The feature is relatively simple. If you have an iOS or Android device that is still officially supported by WhatsApp, then you can finally have the service run independently from your phone in up to 4 now called "Companion devices". If you want to find out detailed instructions on how to activate the service, you can check a guide written by my colleague Antoine Engels shared below:
How to use WhatsApp with multiple devices simultaneously?
This does not mean that you can use the messaging service from multiple smartphones, because only one "Primary" phone device is supported. But for all your other devices, like a Windows or MacOS computer, the service becomes a bit easier to handle. Tablets are unfortunately not supported yet, but we expect them to be eventually added.
Up until now, the multi-device support was considered half-baked at best, only allowing users to sync their messages through their phone to the rest of their devices. If the device disconnected for whatever reason the service would stop working, causing grunts among users who scrambled to resolve the issue.
Now, you are able to use the service without the need of your phone, you simply sync your Companion devices once and your messages will arrive regardless of your smartphone status. A nice plus, is that your messages still remain encrypted, so security is by no means compromised by this new feature, and if you do not use a Companion device for over 2 weeks, it will be automatically disconnected.
What should be kept in mind is that Multi-device support is still in beta phase. Users will have to opt-in in the Beta phase and WhatsApp warns there may still be a few issues with the service, like with performance and quality and other minor bugs. Users can also opt-out from the Beta anytime they want, so no strings are attached.
Several other features are also unavailable through the Companion devices. To mention a few, users can't view live location, send links with previews and delete chats if the primary device is an iPhone.
What other features would you like to see on WhatsApp? Let us know in the comments bellow!
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