There has been news that WhatsApp is testing the multiple linked devices feature in its latest beta version. Currently, one account is linked with one phone only. There is no cloud syncing system or a more practical thing like a username and password to connect one account on multiple devices at the same time.
This was a problem that people have been complaining for a while, and it is great to know that WhatsApp is not in the process of solving this issue.
WABetaInfo recently reported that Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, is working on a specially designed user interface that will allow users to link up to four devices with one account and they can be used simultaneously.
Now, WABetaInfo has brought another great news that an account can not only be operable in multiple devices, but Facebook is also working on a feature that will help users to sync all the message/chat history from one device to another.
For this feature to work, your device will have to be connected to Wi-Fi because of the huge amount of data that will be transferred from one device to another. However, WhatsApp is going to ensure that the data remains encrypted at all times, even while it is being transferred.
Once the entire data is synced, the linked devices should remain connected and synced so that all the future messages can be delivered to all the linked devices.
This feature is currently under development, and it looks like Facebook will require some time to roll it out eventually because this whole ‘syncing the back-end data’ is not a very easy thing to achieve. Not to mention that it is quite messy and is not as simple as it sounds.
Now, there is one question that arises that when we have WhatsApp on our phone, we can sync it with Web WhatsApp on our laptop also. Does that mean our account is already connected to two devices?
Well, the answer to this question is no.
WhatsApp for Windows is just an extension of WhatsApp on your phone. If you delete the app from your phone, the one on the Web will no longer work too.
Right now, WhatsApp does not allow to migrate between different mobile operating systems also. Even with the backup option, or even with the extension on Windows, people end up losing all their chat history when they try to move from one OS to another. There is no ‘cloud sync’ concept for WhatsApp like other chat apps, and this is one reason that causes users to quit using WhatsApp and move on to more user-friendly chat apps like Telegram.
Read next: WhatsApp tests the most anticipated feature ‘expiring messages’ for privacy savvy users, and to avoid history build-up in chats and groups
This was a problem that people have been complaining for a while, and it is great to know that WhatsApp is not in the process of solving this issue.
WABetaInfo recently reported that Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, is working on a specially designed user interface that will allow users to link up to four devices with one account and they can be used simultaneously.
Now, WABetaInfo has brought another great news that an account can not only be operable in multiple devices, but Facebook is also working on a feature that will help users to sync all the message/chat history from one device to another.
For this feature to work, your device will have to be connected to Wi-Fi because of the huge amount of data that will be transferred from one device to another. However, WhatsApp is going to ensure that the data remains encrypted at all times, even while it is being transferred.
Once the entire data is synced, the linked devices should remain connected and synced so that all the future messages can be delivered to all the linked devices.
This feature is currently under development, and it looks like Facebook will require some time to roll it out eventually because this whole ‘syncing the back-end data’ is not a very easy thing to achieve. Not to mention that it is quite messy and is not as simple as it sounds.
Now, there is one question that arises that when we have WhatsApp on our phone, we can sync it with Web WhatsApp on our laptop also. Does that mean our account is already connected to two devices?
Well, the answer to this question is no.
WhatsApp for Windows is just an extension of WhatsApp on your phone. If you delete the app from your phone, the one on the Web will no longer work too.
Right now, WhatsApp does not allow to migrate between different mobile operating systems also. Even with the backup option, or even with the extension on Windows, people end up losing all their chat history when they try to move from one OS to another. There is no ‘cloud sync’ concept for WhatsApp like other chat apps, and this is one reason that causes users to quit using WhatsApp and move on to more user-friendly chat apps like Telegram.
Read next: WhatsApp tests the most anticipated feature ‘expiring messages’ for privacy savvy users, and to avoid history build-up in chats and groups
