Meta-owned WhatsApp on Tuesday announced it is introducing the ability to run multiple mobile phones with a single WhatsApp account. This means that one WhatsApp account will be accessed on multiple devices, thanks to the new update. The additional devices could mean four smartphones or four PCs or a mix of both.
The world's most popular messaging platform further added that the update is rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
The availability of the much-anticipated feature was also announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his Facebook page: "Starting today, you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones."
Users will be able to link WhatsApp on four devices and all of them will work independently, even though there is no network available on the primary device. The other devices where the WhatsApp account is linked will continue to receive messages. However, if the primary device where WhatsApp is installed and remains inactive for a long time, the user will be logged out from all the other devices.
"Last year, we introduced easy messaging * to users around the world on all of their devices while maintaining the same level of privacy and security . Today, we're taking our " multidevice WhatsApp experience" to the next level by introducing the ability to run multiple mobile phones with a single WhatsApp account," the company wrote in a blog post.
Linking a phone as a linked device makes it easy to send messages. Now, users can switch between mobile phones without signing out and pick up where they left off in their chat, the Meta-owned platform added. Or if you're a small business, other employees can now respond to customers directly from their mobile phones with the same WhatsApp Business account.
"Also, in the coming weeks, we're rolling out an alternate and easier way to link linked devices together. You can now get a one-time-use code by entering your mobile number on WhatsApp Web, which you can use to link devices instead of scanning the QR code on your mobile phone. We'll make this feature available for more linked devices in the future," the company added.