WhatsApp is one of the most-used hadsaging apps, and it has come a long way from when it was just a web interface that only worked if your phone was also connected to the internet.
With multi-device support, things are now improved, letting users connect to their computer to communicate with the messaging service’s servers which work wonderfully even when your phone is offline.
Now, WhatsApp is extending this capability to other devices. Android tablet users on beta versions have received a new ‘Companion mode’ beta feature.
With WhatsApp multi-device support, you to link one WhatsApp account on the phone with up to four desktop computers. But users can’t mirror the account on another smartphone or tablet.
WABetaInfo reports the latest WhatsApp Beta builds on the Play Store – v2.22.21.5 and v2.22.21.6 – carry Companion mode for tablets to a handful of beta testers. With this, testers can link their WhatsApp account from their Android phone or iPhone to an Android tablet.
The process to companion mode is quite similar to the earlier steps of setting up multi-device on WhatsAsktop or Web. You just have to click on the three-dot menu on your Android phone’s upper right corner of the WhatsApp app and select Linked devices; iPhone users can click on the gear icon. You have to point your phone’s camera at the QR code shown on the WhatsApp running on your Android tablet.
Once you have set it up, all your chats will sync between your phone and Android tablet, even if the former device doesn’t have an active internet connection.
As per the report, you can still link four companion devices per WhatsApp account, but with this mode, one of the devices can be a tablet.
Companion mode feature and their appearance might change during the beta testing phase. Still, there could be a way where a similar Companion mode execution could ultimately make its way to smartphones, permitting them to work as linked devices.
WABetaInfo cautions that the new beta has a few missing features: the ability to view live locations and Communities; WhatsApp may very well roll out support for these in due course.
