The popular chat service WhatsApp has started to support the use of its “WhatsApp Web” feature without the need to keep the phone connected to the internet. Users can now access the service independently across multiple devices simultaneously, fulfilling a long-awaited request from users. This feature has been available on competing chat services for some time now. However, the current method of using WhatsApp Web is not considered practical.
The new feature will soon be available for Android and iPhone devices. As of now, it is still under testing and not available to all users. However, we will explain the steps to get and activate it now instead of waiting for its official release. Keep reading to find out more.
If you are one of the billions of WhatsApp users worldwide, you probably know that you can use the service on your computer through the web browser thanks to the WhatsApp Web feature. However, you need to keep your phone connected to the internet to chat and make calls. The WhatsApp application on your phone receives the messages first and then displays them on your computer, and vice versa.
Whatever you do on WhatsApp Web is synchronized in real-time with your phone as long as it is connected to the internet. Some find this annoying and impractical, especially if the phone’s connection is weak, the phone’s battery is low, or the WhatsApp application is unexpectedly closed by the Android or iOS system due to background activity.
This situation has now completely changed with the launch of the “Multi-Device” feature, which allows for the first time to use the chat service on up to four different devices through WhatsApp Web, whether on the browser or the WhatsApp Desktop program that can be installed on macOS or Windows computers, without the need to keep the internet connection active on the phone.
All you need to do is read a QR code to log in to WhatsApp Web as usual, but the new thing is that your sessions will not expire even if you close the phone or the application. This means that the phone is no longer essential for the service to function, and you can use WhatsApp Web on this device at any time without restrictions, just like using Messenger. However, this does not mean that you can use the same WhatsApp account (or phone number) on two phones, which is another feature we hope to see added soon.
In an official post on the Facebook Engineering blog, which includes a detailed explanation of how the new feature works, it seems that enabling the use of WhatsApp Web without the need for internet connection on the phone was a very complex task that required Facebook engineers to restructure the infrastructure responsible for message exchange on WhatsApp, explaining why it took so long to support this feature.
According to the company, WhatsApp now uses a new approach where each device connected to your WhatsApp account through WhatsApp Web has its unique identifier key. This allows it to encrypt and decrypt messages locally without relying on the phone associated with the account. The same level of privacy and security is maintained even during data synchronization such as contact names and chat records, etc. In general, the new feature does not compromise WhatsApp’s encryption or privacy protection features.
Using WhatsApp Web Even After Disconnecting the Phone from the Internet
As mentioned earlier, the “Multi-Device” feature is currently available as a test feature. You will need to install the latest beta version of WhatsApp on your Android or iPhone to test the new feature.
If you are not using the beta version of the WhatsApp application, you can download version 2.21.16.1 (the latest beta version so far) from ApkMirror and install it to replace the current old version of WhatsApp without losing messages or any data. Unfortunately, for iOS users, the WhatsApp beta program is currently full, and there is no alternative way to download the beta version other than using TestFlight. So you will have to wait until the feature is officially released to all users in the coming days.
After signing up for the WhatsApp beta program, all you need to do to benefit from the “Multi-Device” feature is to open the WhatsApp application, then click on the three dots in the upper left corner and from the menu, click on “Linked devices.” Here you will find a new option, the “Multi-device beta,” so click on it to move to the next step. If you do not see this option, it means that your account does not support the new feature yet. WhatsApp promises that it will be available to all beta users worldwide in a few days.
Now, to experience the new feature, open WhatsApp Web on your computer through any browser or using WhatsApp Desktop. When the QR code appears for logging in, open the WhatsApp application on your phone and go back to the “Linked devices” page and click on “Link a device” to scan the code displayed on the computer screen to connect your account to this device. It’s just the routine login process we’ve been accustomed to since the launch of WhatsApp Web in 2015.
The new thing here is that you can link your account in the same way with up to four devices simultaneously, and even when you disconnect the internet from your phone, you can still use the service on your computer without interruption.
Keep in mind that if you do not use your phone or open the WhatsApp application for more than 14 days, your linked devices on WhatsApp Web will be disconnected for added security since WhatsApp needs to ensure that your account always has access from your phone.
Overall, the new feature works very well according to our experience. However, there are still features not supported in this beta version, including making voice/video calls, which is not possible if the person you are trying to contact is using an old version of WhatsApp on their phone.
