WhatsApp’s multi-device functionality has been in the news for quite some time now. The company first announced the feature back in 2021. However, at the time it was available in beta to a limited number of users. Then last year, the Meta-owned messaging app rolled out this feature to all its users globally. At the time, the feature enabled users to connect their WhatsApp accounts to up to four devices including their personal computers, laptops and tablets. Now, the company is improving this feature further.
WhatsApp today announced that its users can now link their WhatsApp accounts to up to four smartphones.
“Today, we’re improving our multi-device offering further by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones,” WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.
The update works in a similar way as the original multi-device support feature that was rolled out last year. The only caveat last year was that users could not link multiple smartphones to their WhatsApp accounts. This year, WhatsApp is taking that limitation away by allowing users to connect up to four smartphones to their WhatsApp accounts.
WhatsApp says that each linked phone connects to WhatsApp independently, which in turn ensures that all of users’ personal data including messages, media, and calls are end-to-end encrypted. However, the company cautions that if a user’s primary device is inactive for a long period (14 days), the company will automatically log them 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,” the company added.
As far as availability is concerned, WhatsApp says that it has started rolling out this update to all users globally and that it will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
Link companion devices easily
In addition to this, the company also announced that it is making it easier for users to link companion devices to their WhatsApp accounts. The company today announced now users can enter their phone numbers on WhatsApp Web to receive a one-time code, which they can use on their smartphones to enable device linking, rather than having to scan a QR code. This feature will be available to all WhatsApp users globally in the coming weeks.
WhatsApp said that it is planning to bring this feature to more companion devices in the future.