With over 2 billion users, the popular messaging service WhatsApp has officially announced multi-device support. This means WhatsApp users can now use the same account on up to four devices. Previously, you could only use WhatsApp on one device and the web with multiple companion desktop devices. This was made official by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
Users can independently use their messages, media, and calls on WhatsApp accounts on different devices, logging in on multiple devices simultaneously while the remaining data is secure with end-to-end encryption. This feature will be available on both Android and iOS devices.
WhatsApp announced the same account on up to four different devices.
This feature was one of the most significant updates. For a long time, WhatsApp has been lacking support for multiple phones due to end-to-end encryption support. Now, with other devices, users can still use WhatsApp with E2EE support across devices. As we mentioned previously, this feature needed to be improved because encryption ensures that only the sender and receiver can read the messages and calls, making this process complex and maintaining the integrity of the WhatsApp encryption.
This update is starting to roll out this week. WhatsApp multi-device login will allow users to sync across multiple devices, including other devices. You can continue using WhatsApp on other devices if the device is switched off. Other devices will stay active on other devices. Now users can use the same WhatsApp account on multiple devices—up to four different devices. This is helpful, as it helps to keep syncing WhatsApp on different devices.
How to use WhatsApp on multiple devices and log in to your WhatsApp account on another device
Users need to link their other devices to the primary WhatsApp. Before proceeding, users should have one primary WhatsApp account. This new feature will allow users to switch between devices without requiring them to log out and back into each device. To use this feature, you only need to download WhatsApp on a secondary device.
After that, register your mobile number as you register WhatsApp with the same mobile number you used on your primary device. After that, you will receive an OTP on your device. Enter it on your secondary device. Then you can continue using WhatsApp on your device.
Each WhatsApp account will connect to WhatsApp independently. There could only be five accounts in total that you could use with a single account. As we mentioned, WhatsApp makes it easier to link their companion devices by asking them to enter their mobile number on the WhatsApp Web and receive an OTP to enable device linking instead of traditional QR code scan authentication. This is currently in development and only works with WhatsApp Web, and the company has plans to expand this to companion devices to make it more flexible.
How to Use WhatsApp Companion Mode on the Web
This functionality may not work in the latest version, but it still works on the web. The latest update now requires an OTP instead of scanning a QR code. This will work until the new feature rolls out to all users. Even for desktop WhatsApp, you may now acquire an OTP to use WhatsApp on the Web.
- Open WhatsApp on your primary device, and then tap on the triple-dot menu in the screen’s upper-right corner.
- From there, tap on Linked Devices, and then tap on Add Device.
- Now, open WhatsApp on the web. It will show users QR codes to scan on their primary device.
- From there, tap on it, and then you will have the Linked Devices option.
- Once you tap on it, it will display a QR code. Go to your primary device and scan the QR code from there.
- That’s it!
Now you can run WhatsApp on another device. You can link up to four devices, including the web-based desktop WhatsApp. Additionally, this feature is currently in beta, so some users might encounter errors, bugs, or issues with WhatsApp’s multi-device functionality. Also, this update is rolling out gradually and will continue to roll out to all users in the coming weeks.
This feature will also extend the productivity of small businesses, as they can now link to other devices to answer or attend to queries on WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp Multi-Device offers E2EE protection, maintaining the highest level of privacy and security.
Meta has been testing this for a long time. Since 2001, they have started experimenting with multi-device-compatible features, and during that time, the company has developed a new technology that ensures the message is synced across the device and still offers end-to-end encryption protection. This is one of the key features of WhatsApp. While other platforms like Telegram don’t offer encryption by default, for Telegram, you need to manually enable E2EE for individuals.
Meta’s own Messenger has offered multi-device support for a long time, as does Telegram, but they, unlike WhatsApp, don’t support end-to-end encryption. As the company has started pulling this off with the WhatsApp Desktop companion, no cookies will be stored or used during this process, so session sharing won’t be possible. You are safe to use WhatsApp with the highest level of protection.
As WhatsApp doesn’t offer this feature natively, Meta has officially made the announcement, and the message can still be E2EE, protecting users’ messages. The company hasn’t compromised the end-to-end encryption protection, which means even after users have been using WhatsApp on multiple devices, it’s safe, can be used on up to four devices, and can be synced across all devices.
If your primary device has not been active for an extended period, other accounts linked to that WhatsApp account will be automatically logged out of any companion device to prevent unauthorised access to the account. This is such a useful feature and is required from a privacy perspective.
The company is also working on various new features, such as the Channel feature, which allows users to communicate with a large audience. This is quite similar to the Telegram broadcast feature. It’s worth mentioning that WhatsApp can only be verified with one registered phone number.
If your device has a dual SIM, choose the mobile number carefully because you can’t verify your WhatsApp account with a dual number. Also, if you have been frequently requesting access to your WhatsApp account for re-verification, you might get blocked. So it’s recommended to switch between numbers not too often. If you want to switch to another mobile number, switching only once and not too often is recommended. If you try to switch too frequently, your account may get blocked for re-verification.