So far, the use of WhatsApp was tied to a single smartphone. But WhatsApp has been working for a long time to enable the account on several mobile phones at the same time. Now the new feature is finally here.
Other messengers such as Telegram already allow use on multiple smartphones. In contrast to WhatsApp, however, the chats there are not end-to-end encrypted. This presented the company with a major challenge. That’s why it was previously only possible to use the account next to the main device in the browser or on the tablet. But WhatsApp now allows multi-device use for smartphones as well.
WhatsApp introduces “companion” mode for smartphones
WhatsApp has already tested multi-device use for smartphones in a beta phase. But now the company has officially announced the feature on its own blog. Users can be logged in to their WhatsApp account on up to four devices at the same time. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a tablet, computer – or even a smartphone.
According to the announcement, each device connects independently to WhatsApp. This ensures that messages, media and calls are still end-to-end encrypted. For security, the linked smartphones are also logged out if the main device has not been used for 14 days. The Companion smartphones also show the message “This is a linked device” and do not support the live location and status messages features.
The multi-device use of WhatsApp has clear advantages. Not only are messages and files synchronized across all devices and can therefore be accessed from anywhere at any time. The function also has a practical side effect. Because users can use it to simply send files to themselves – from one smartphone to another.
Activate WhatsApp multi-device use
WhatsApp has published instructions on its help page that explain how multi-device use with companion smartphones works. However, this is only available in English for the time being. TECHBOOK summarizes the steps:
- Download WhatsApp on the smartphone that you want to link to the existing account
- click on Agree & continue
- In addition to the previous registration with the telephone number, the option now appears Link this device to an existing account. If you select this, the smartphone will display a QR code
- Open WhatsApp on smartphone where you are already signed in with the account
- Click the three-dot menu on Android or Ideas on iOS and then select Linked Devices and then Link device
- Scan the QR code and WhatsApp can now be used on the companion device
The innovation should reach users in the coming days via an update. In addition, WhatsApp has announced another change that simplifies multi-device use with the web function. Instead of scanning a QR code, users can now enter their account’s phone number in WhatsApp Web and then confirm with a code.