WhatsApp just got better for people who use multiple devices

WhatsApp has been notoriously inflexible for over a decade. It was possible to transfer the app from phone to phone, but to do so you had to deactivate your previous phone. Until recentlyswitching from iOS to Android or vice versa will result in losing your chat history.

This strict one-phone-per-account rule was suitable for people who only had one handset. However, for people using multiple devices, WhatsApp’s rigid requirements were often maddening. Parent company Meta has apparently listened to these concerns, because starting today, WhatsApp will be able to be used on up to four phones at the same time.

It works the same way it works on web browsers, tablets and desktops, with chats synced across signed-in devices. This allows you to continue chats where you left off. The meta suggests it could be particularly useful for small businesses, where up to four employees can respond to customer inquiries via the company’s WhatsApp account.

Most importantly, opening access to multiple phones does not break the built-in encryption. Meta claims that each device connects to WhatsApp independently of each other, which means messages, media and calls remain encrypted end-to-end. If your primary device is inactive for an unspecified “long period”, your account will be automatically logged out on your other devices as well.

While end-to-end encryption has never been a privacy solution – after all, anyone with personal access to a phone with WhatsApp logged in can read your messages if they know the password – it does mean that structurally all is not well. weaker by adopting multiple handsets. Although theoretically there are more phones available, it is worth ensuring biometric security and/or a strong access code, password or PIN.

Meta says the update has started rolling out globally and will be “available to everyone in the coming weeks.” In addition to this, Meta says it is making it easier to connect companion devices to your WhatsApp account, and users will soon be able to receive a one-time code via WhatsApp Web instead of scanning a QR code. The company says this feature will also be rolled out in the next few weeks.