With over 2 billion users, the popular messaging service WhatsApp has officially announced multi-device support. This means WhatsApp users can now use the same account on up to four devices. Previously, you could only use WhatsApp on one device and on the web with multiple companion desktop devices. This was made official by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
Users can independently use their messages, media, and calls on WhatsApp accounts on different devices, logging in on multiple devices simultaneously while the remaining data is secure with end-to-end encryption. This feature will be available on both Android and iOS devices.
WhatsApp announced the same account on up to four different devices.
This feature was one of the most significant updates. For a long time, WhatsApp has been lacking support for multiple phones due to end-to-end encryption support. Now, with other devices, users can still use WhatsApp with E2EE support across devices. As we mentioned previously, this feature needed to be improved because encryption ensures that only the sender and receiver can read the message and calls, making this process complex and maintaining the integrity of the WhatsApp encryptions.
NEW: Use @WhatsApp on more than one phone!
Thanks to some improvements in our multi-device technology, we are rolling out the ability to link a second phone (or third, or fourth) to your WA account. And, of course, it’s all still protected by end-to-end encryption. pic.twitter.com/gu5E2ExQ8S— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) April 25, 2023
This update is starting to roll out this week. WhatsApp multi-device login will allow users to sync across multiple devices, including other devices. You can continue using WhatsApp on other devices if the device is switched off. Other devices will stay active on other devices. Now users can use the same WhatsApp account on multiple devices, up to four different devices. This is helpful, as it helps to keep syncing with WhatsApp on different devices.
How to use WhatsApp multi-device, login to WhatsApp account on another device
Users need to link their other devices with the primary WhatsApp. Before proceeding, users should have one primary WhatsApp account. This new feature will allow users to switch between devices without requiring them to log out and back into each device. To use this feature, you only need to download WhatsApp on the secondary device.
After that, register your mobile number as you register WhatsApp with the same mobile number you used on your primary device. After that, you will receive the OTP on your device. Enter it on your secondary device. Then you can continue using WhatsApp on your device.
Each WhatsApp account will connect to WhatsApp independently. There could be only five accounts in total that you can use with a single account. As we mentioned, WhatsApp makes it easier to link their companion devices by asking them to enter their mobile number on WhatsApp Web and receive OTP to enable device linking instead of traditional QR code scan authentications. This is currently in development and only works with WhatsApp Web, and the company has plans to expand this to companion devices to make it more flexible.
How to Use WhatsApp Companion Mode on the Web
This functionality may not work on the latest version, but it still works on the web. The latest update now requires an OTP instead of scanning a QR Code. This will work until the new feature rolls out to all users. Even for Desktop WhatsApp, you may now acquire an OTP to use WhatsApp on Web.
🥁 Drumroll please…
Now you can use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones 📱📞 ☎️ 📲
Link up to 4 other devices to your account so you can easily switch between phones without signing out and pick your chats up right where you left off. pic.twitter.com/Loqa30EgHk— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) April 25, 2023
- Open WhatsApp on your primary device, and then tap on the triple-dot menu in the screen’s upper-right corner.
- From there, tap on Linked Devices and then tap on Add Device.
- Now, open WhatsApp on the web. It will show users’ QR codes to scan from their primary device.
- From there, tap on it, and then you will have the Linked Devices option.
- Once you tap on it, it will display a QR Code. Go to your primary device and scan the QR Code from there.
- That’s it!
Now you can run WhatsApp on another device. You can link up to 4 devices, including the Web-based Desktop WhatsApp. Additionally, this feature is currently in beta, so some users might encounter errors, bugs, or issues with the WhatsApp Multi-device functionality. Also, this update is rolling out gradually and will continue to roll out to all users in the coming weeks.
Yes. You can link your WhatsApp Business account to a secondary Android device.
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) April 25, 2023
This feature will also extend the productivity of small businesses, as they can now link to other devices to answer or attend to queries on WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp Multi-Device offers E2EE protection, maintaining the highest level of privacy and security.
Meta has been testing this for a long time. Since 201, they have started experimenting with multi-device compatible features, and during that time, the company has developed a new technology that ensures the message is synced across the device and still offers end-to-end encryption protection. This is one of the key features of WhatsApp. While other platforms like Telegram don’t offer encryption by default, for Telegram, you need to manually enable E2EE for individuals.
Meta’s own Messenger does offer multi-device support for a long time, and Telegram, but they, unlike WhatsApp, don’t support end-to-end encryption. As the company has started pulling this with the WhatsApp Desktop companion, no cookies will be stored or used during this process, so session sharing won’t be possible. You are safe to use WhatsApp with the highest level of protection.
As WhatsApp does offer this feature natively, Meta has officially made the announcement, and the message can still be E2EE, protecting users’ messages. The company hasn’t compromised the end-to-end encryption protection, which means even after users have been using WhatsApp on multiple devices, it’s safe and can be used on up to four devices and be synced across all devices.
If your primary device has not been active for an extended period, other accounts linked to that WhatsApp account will be automatically logged out of any companion device to prevent unauthorized access to the account. This is such a useful feature and is required from a privacy perspective.
The company is also working on various new features, such as the Channel feature, which allows users to communicate with a large audience. This is quite similar to the Telegram broadcast feature. It’s worth mentioning that WhatsApp can only be verified with one registered phone number.
If your device has dual SIM, choose the mobile number carefully because you can’t verify your WhatsApp account with a dual number. Also, if you have been frequently requesting access to your WhatsApp account for re-verification, you might get blocked. So it’s recommended to switch between numbers not too often. If you want to switch to another mobile number, switching only once and not too often is recommended. If you try to switch too frequently, your account may get blocked from re-verification.
