WhatsApp has started testing support for multi-device connection that lets users access the popular chat app on more devices without the need to have an active connection on one device.
Before this new feature, you could only use WhatsApp on another device that needed an active phone that was already connected and powered on. The Facebook-owned platform is now taking in testers in its public beta rollout of this new feature. It’s worth noting this test is limited to select users who have already signed up on the messaging app’s beta program.
If you’re in the program, an in-app alert will be shared with you prompting you to join the new test if you’d like to.
This new feature is now rolling out to users in Kenya as seen by your’s truly and our very own Abuya.
The multi-device feature allows you to use WhatsApp on your phone and four other non-phone devices. This means you can use WhatsApp for the web on three other non-smartphone devices. In my case, I was able to use WhatsApp for Web on my Windows laptop, and on another secondary smartphone.
Your primary account will use the WhatsApp app. The rest of the 4 non-phone devices will have to use WhatsApp for the web/desktop client.
WhatsApp adds that each companion device will connect to your WhatsApp independently while maintaining the same level of privacy and security through end-to-end encryption.
The platform says that they have developed new technologies to maintain end-to-end encryption while still managing to sync your data – such as contact names, chat archives, starred messages, and more – across devices.
Facebook’s Automatic Device Verification enables devices to automatically establish trust between each other in a way that someone needs to compare another user’s security code only if that user reregisters their entire account, rather than each time they link a new device to their account.
WhatsApp: How to Protect Your Privacy and Stay Secure on the Popular Chat App
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Here’s how to protect your privacy and stay secure:
