New York: WhatsApp on Tuesday launched a completely new app for Windows users. This time, instead of using the old Electron technology (which is web-based), the app has been completely rebuilt using native Windows technologies, which should result in better performance overall.
Previously, users on Windows had to download WhatsApp’s web-based desktop app or access the messaging service from their web browsers. The new app is native to Windows, which, as WhatsApp explains, should make the app faster and more responsive.
In addition, the native WhatsApp app has some other advantages compared to its predecessor. For example, users can now send and receive messages even when their phone is offline. The interface has also been redesigned to look cleaner and more consistent with the Windows interface.
The redesigned WhatsApp has a slightly cleaner interface when compared to the previous version of the app but otherwise doesn’t look all that different. The biggest change is that you no longer need to keep your phone online to sync messages between your phone and the desktop app. WhatsApp says it’s currently working on a native app for macOS as well.
WhatsApp’s multi-device feature has been fully rolled out and is out of beta. This lets you link up to four devices to your WhatsApp account without needing your phone, all while maintaining end-to-end encryption.
Windows users can now download the new WhatsApp app for Windows on the Microsoft Store. It requires a computer running Windows 10 or later. As for the new macOS version, users interested in getting it before the official release must sign up for the beta app on TestFlight.
WhatsApp also has plans to release an iPad version (and now this is totally possible with the Catalyst version), but at this point, the beta app for iPadOS has yet to be released.
