WhatsApp is free! The new version of the application for Windows becomes autonomous and can be used without having the smartphone nearby to connect. A first step towards the famous multi-device function.
WhatsApp is a very convenient and popular messaging application, but its use is limited to one smartphone per user. Indeed, he must link his telephone number to an account in order to use the mobile application – available on Android and iOS – unlike other messaging systems such as Messenger, Telegram or Snapchat, which are accessible from n’ any device with a username and password. Problem: it is complicated to access your conversations from a computer, tablet or other smartphone. But the Meta group – which owns Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp – seems to have finally heard the request of its users and will simplify things on the computer, by developing a standalone application on Windows.
WhatsApp: a standalone application on Windows
Until now, using WhatsApp on a computer required downloading the WhatsApp desktop application (WhatsApp Desktop) or accessing the messaging service from a web browser (WhatsApp Web). Problem: The application was based on the web and on the Electron framework. However, this type of application is not very practical, since you must have your smartphone nearby and connect it via mobile data or Wi-Fi. In addition, not all functions are available, such as calls video. So not terrible.
Meta has listened to the complaints and has just unveiled the new WhatsApp app for Windows PCs, which is currently available on Windows Store. For the occasion, WhatsApp has posted a help page which details what’s new. The first big change is that this time it is a so-called “native” application – it uses the development tools of its operating system. The content is therefore loaded locally, which gives it better performance, and the design integrates a little more harmoniously with the rest of the system. And above all, the application connects directly to the WhatsApp servers, and no longer to the remote smartphone – even if you have to scan a QR code with WhatsApp on your phone when you first launch the application. Messages also remain end-to-end encrypted, and messaging continues to show call and message notifications, even when closed.
To connect to the application on Windows, nothing could be simpler! Just download and launch the application on your PC, then open its application on mobile. At the top right, you have to press the three small dots, then Settings, and finally Linked devices. Finally, you must scan the QR code that appears on the desktop application using the smartphone. Note that, for security reasons, the user must launch messaging on his phone at least once every two weeks, otherwise the associated devices are automatically disconnected.
WhatsApp: soon a multi-device function on all applications?
This was one of the points reproached to Meta: the impossibility of using the same account on several devices. This function is in great demand by those who have two smartphones – and therefore two different telephone numbers – but wish to keep a single WhatsApp account, bringing together all their contacts and all their conversations. The stand-alone application on Windows therefore partially solves this problem. Meta says it’s also working on a similar app for macOS, but it won’t be coming to Apple devices until later. For now, Mac users should content themselves with accessing WhatsApp Web on a browser or using WhatsApp’s web app.
On the mobile device side, Meta is reportedly working on a Companion mode, which would allow users to link multiple Android smartphones to a single WhatsApp account, without needing an active internet connection on the primary device to send messages. messages. Even better, Meta also works on syncing chat history between mobile devices. It was time !