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Tech

25th Apr 2023

WhatsApp finally adds much requested feature

Rory Cashin

WhatsApp

The new feature begins rolling out worldwide today.

If you’ve ever been working with more than one phone at a time, then you’ll know WhatsApp requires you to effectively sign into your new phone each and every time you use the app, which can be a bit of a time-consumer if you’re in a rush and need to communicate something from a personal phone instead of your work phone, or vice versa.

Whatever your reasons may be for needing to use WhatsApp on more than one phone, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his own Facebook account today to announce an update in the instant messaging platform:

Here is Meta’s official statement on the feature’s arrival:

“Last year, we introduced the ability for users globally to message seamlessly across all their devices, while maintaining the same level of privacy and security. Today, we’re improving our multi-device offering further by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones.

“A feature highly requested by users, now you can link your phone as one of up to four additional devices, the same as when you link with WhatsApp on web browsers, tablets and desktops. Each linked phone connects to WhatsApp independently, ensuring that your personal messages, media, and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and if your primary device is inactive for a long period, we automatically log you out of all companion devices.

“Linking phones as companion devices makes messaging easier. Now you can switch between phones without signing out and pick up your chats where you left off. Or if you’re a small business owner, additional employees are now able to respond to customers directly from their phones under the same WhatsApp Business account. This update has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.

“Also rolling out over the coming weeks, we’re introducing an alternative and more accessible way to link to companion devices. Now you can enter your phone number on WhatsApp Web to receive a one-time code, which you can use on your phone to enable device linking, rather than having to scan a QR code. We look forward to introducing this feature to more companion devices in the future.”

More information on how to link between your devices can be found right here.

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