Ever since the early days of WhatsApp, users have only been able to use one phone per account – but this is finally changing.
The chat platform has announced that users can now get their WhatsApp account on up to four additional phones, or five in total.
WhatsApp users can link four extra ‘companion’ smartphones by scanning QR codes using their primary phone.
Users have already been able to connect up to four PCs or tablets to a single WhatsApp account, but until now not any additional phones.
The ‘highly requested’ feature will suit those who have a phone for work and a phone for personal use but still want all their chats under a single WhatsApp account – although some said mistrusting couples will try to log into their partner’s account.
WhatsApp said it is improving its ‘multi-device offering’ by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones
The update has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks, according to WhatsApp.
Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, which owns WhatsApp, announced the update on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
‘Starting today, you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones,’ he said.
In reply, one user joked ‘that’s gonna be a problem for jealous couples’, while another said ‘I try to log on my boyfriends account, will he know?’
WhatsApp, first released in 2009, was designed to send the equivalent of text messages but via the internet.
For this reason, a WhatsApp account has always been closely tied to an individual phone number, although more recently it’s become possible to link several non-phone devices to an account too.
In 2021, WhatsApp started letting users connect up to four additional non-phone devices such as PCs and tablets to their account, independently of a phone.
This means a user has been able to have, for example, their phone, two tablets and two PCs all running the same single WhatsApp account.
This feature had rolled out globally by 2022, but now WhatsApp is going a step further by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones too.
While the amount of devices has not increased (one primary phone with up to four companion devices), extra phones can now be included in the mix too.
WhatsApp has said each linked device will connect to WhatsApp independently, ensuring personal messages, media and calls are all synced.
If the ‘primary’ smartphone – defined as the one that originally had your WhatsApp account on it – is inactive for a long period, it will automatically log you out of all ‘companion’ phones.
WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta) has announced one of its biggest changes in the chat app’s 14-year history
Regardless of which device is running a WhatsApp account, all chats will still be end-to-end encrypted, WhatsApp staff have stressed.
End-to-end encryption ensures only the two participants of a chat can read messages, and no one in between – not even the company that owns the service.
WhatsApp, which was bought by Facebook in 2014 for about $19 billion, says every private message sent using WhatsApp is secured with end-to-end encryption by default.
It acts like ‘an unbreakable digital lock’ that keeps the contents of messages secure and viewable to no-one except the sender and the recipient.
However, WhatsApp could potentially be banned in the UK due to its use of end-to-end encryption, which some believe make it more difficult for security agencies and other organisations such as child protection charities to detect criminal activity.
The UK government is currently considering new legislation that could force WhatsApp and other chat platforms to break end-to-end encryption, as part of the Online Safety Bill.
Messaging services that use it, including WhatsApp, Signal, Viber and Element, have signed an open letter opposing the Online Safety Bill ahead of its final reading in the House of Lords, which is still upcoming.
‘The UK Government must urgently rethink the Bill, revising it to encourage companies to offer more privacy and security to its residents, not less,’ Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp at Meta, said in the letter along with six other signatories.
It follows news that WhatsApp developers are working on bringing animated emojis to the platform, according to independent experts WABetaInfo.
A GIF of the new emoji in action shows the ‘Face with Party Horn and Party Hat’ emoji spinning around while blowing a party horn.
One of WhatsApp’s primary rivals, Telegram, already has animated emoji, leading to accusations from some users on Twitter that WhatsApp is ‘stealing’ the idea.
