A Mobile Number Will No Longer Be Needed For WhatsApp And Will Be Multi Device
WhatsApp the most popular chat app online has now more than 2 Billion users.
Due to users' requests, WhatsApp is testing a new feature that will let people message without using their phone for the first time.
At present, WhatsApp is linked to a user's phone. It's desktop and web apps need that device to be connected and receiving messages.
But the new feature will let users send and receive messages "even if your phone battery is dead".
WhatsApp said in their blog that, up to four other devices - like PCs and tablets - can be used together,
To begin with, the new feature will be rolled out as a beta test for a "small group of users", and the team plans to improve performance and add features before enabling it for everyone.
End-to-end encryption - a key selling point for WhatsApp - will still work under this new system, it said.
We wrote an article about the difference in security between WhatsApp and their rivals Signal and Telegram a few months ago.
In a blog post announcing the move, Facebook engineers said the change needed a "rethink" of WhatsApp's software design.
That is because the current version "uses a smartphone app as the primary device, making the phone the source of truth for all user data and the only device capable of end-to-end encrypting messages for another user [or] initiating calls", the company said.
"The new WhatsApp multi-device architecture removes these hurdles, no longer requiring a smartphone to be the source of truth, while still keeping user data seamlessly and securely synchronized and private," the company said.
Very excited to be launching a beta of our new multi-device capability for @WhatsApp. Now you can use our desktop or web experiences even when your phone isn't active and connected to the internet. All secured with end-to-end encryption.
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) July 14, 2021
Learn more: https://t.co/AnFu4Qh6Hd
Many companies and individuals have been already using WhatsApp without the need for a mobile sim card by buying mobile numbers in apps like TextNow, 2ndLine, and many more, where you can get a number for like $35 a year or a bit more and you can use it for WhatsApp verification.
The multi-device function will help so many users to be able to do customer service or support of any kind, using their tablet, desktop, or laptop at the same time, so more than one person could use the same mobile number each in a different device.
Without the need for a mobile number, people will be able to have more uses for Whatsapp and for WhatsApp Business. For example, a company that uses WhatsApp for customer service and many different numbers depending on the level of help or individuals with more than one business.
It is believed that WhatsApp could increase by 50% the number of users just by taking away the need for mobile numbers.
Mili Ponce
Former Computer Engineer, Tech, EdTech and eCommerce Entrepreneur, Keynote Speaker on Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Social Media Strategist, eCommerce Business Mentor, Trainer, Writer, Blogger, Mother, Daughter, Dreamer.
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A Mobile Number Will No Longer Be Needed For WhatsApp And Will Be Multi Device
Reviewed by Mili Ponce
on
Monday, July 19, 2021
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