By Sonny Aragba-Akpore
In November 2022, Meta Platforms Inc, owners of WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and others announced that it was tinkering with the idea of introducing a single WhatsApp number on multiple devices.
Not many understood it.Shortly after, WhatsApp began making multidevice features available to everyone. But it didn’t support multiple phones.
It also began rolling out a new way to link devices using a one-time code.
While this was going on, Meta last week announced what appears revolutionary in this communication platform that has taken over from electronic mails and improved multimedia messaging.
WhatsApp is finally rolling out multi-device login support for more than one phone. Mark Zuckerberg announced the feature’s rollout on Facebook and Instagram.
“Starting today,(Tuesday April 25), you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones,” he said
With the new rollout, users’ messages will be synced across devices including other phones. So even if one device is switched off, they can access the app on other devices, Zuckerberg explained.
WhatsApp said that this feature is rolling out to all users within the coming weeks.
Until now, users could only use one WhatsApp account on one phone and multiple companion desktop devices.
WhatsApp is one of the biggest messaging services around with more than two billion users. But it lacked multiphone support until now because of full end-to-end encryption support for chats and calls.
The company started testing multi-device compatibility back in 2021 with select beta users. At that time, Meta (known as Facebook at that time) said that it had developed new tech to sync messages across devices while maintaining end-to-end encryption protection.
Other competitors like Telegram and Messenger offered multidevice sync for messages, but they didn’t have support for end-to-end encryption.
Before now, users of the famous messaging and video calling app could only log into an account on a single phone with the same number.
Attempts to deploy the same on another phone will automatically deactivate the previous account created.
But this also portends danger as smart alecs could take advantage of the multiple phone to clone some one else’s number and use same for mischief. Some could easily bug such numbers for sinister motives.
Though official bugging exists in Nigeria through the Lawful Communication Interception guidelines by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the new WhatsApp rules may whittle down NCC’s powers since tech savvy individuals could do harm to individuals within their space.
WhatsApp is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralised instant messaging and voice-over-internet protocol service owned by conglomerate, Meta.
The app allows users to send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content seamlessly. WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple phones is useful if you’re a business that uses WhatsApp to communicate with customers or if you use more than one phone on a regular basis for any reason.
WhatsApp users are no longer restricted to using their account on just a single phone. Today, the Meta-owned messaging service is opening up its multi-device feature — which previously allowed you to access and send messages from additional Android tablets, browsers, or computers alongside your primary phone — is expanding to support additional smartphones. “One WhatsApp account, now across multiple phones” is how the service describes the feature, which it says is rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.
Setting up a secondary phone to use with your WhatsApp account happens after doing a fresh install of the app. Except, rather than entering your phone number during setup and logging in as usual, you instead tap a new “link to existing account” option. This will generate a QR code to be scanned by your primary WhatsApp phone via the “link a device” option in settings. The new feature works across both iOS and Android devices.
WhatsApp is pitching the feature as a useful tool for small businesses that might want multiple employees to be able to send and receive messages from the same business number via different phones. But it should be useful for anyone who uses multiple smartphones on a regular basis and wants them all to be associated with the same WhatsApp account.
Although the original phone that logged in to your account is considered the “primary” device, it doesn’t need to be turned on to receive messages across your other phones, Android tablets, or computers. However, if your primary device is inactive for over 14 days, WhatsApp says it’ll log out your other devices. You can also manually log out linked devices from your primary phone.
Once a secondary phone is linked to your WhatsApp account, you’ll be able to access and send messages from either phone. Up to a year of messages will sync between devices, so you’ll be able to see chat histories before sending any new messages. Messages sync across phones regardless of their operating systems, whether it’s iOS to Android or vice versa.
There have previously been workarounds to access the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones via WhatsApp Web in a browser. But the experience has never been great, and official support for the feature should be far more seamless and useful.
Personal messages remain end-to-end encrypted, regardless of whether you’re using the multi-device feature.
Users can select a primary account and use WhatsApp on the Web, Desktop, Android tablets, and other devices as companions. To link a device, open your WhatsApp account and tap on “More options” on Android or “Settings” on iPhone, go to Linked devices > Link a device. If you have biometric authentication, the phone prompts you to use this. If there is no biometric, WhatsApp prompts the user to the PIN unlock for the phone. The user is directed to point the primary phone to the screen of the intended companion device and scan the QR code.
While there might be some security concerns about the feature, it is useful for WhatsApp Business accounts, which must respond rapidly to customer enquiries. WhatsApp says the update is available to all users globally and will be available to everyone in the “coming weeks”.
Having access to the same account across two or three phones can be helpful in many situations, especially given WhatsApp’s popularity across the global as a versatile tool for communication across many contexts and time zones. Businesses can share one account across multiple employee phones, or one user can remain available for personal-life needs or emergencies even while using their business-specific phone.
▪︎ Aragba-Akpore, an analyst of telecom trends, lives in Abuja