Facebook and WhatsApp logos are displayed on portable electronic devices on Feb. 19, 2014 in San Francisco City. (Photo : Getty Images/ Justin Sullivan)
Despite being the largest messenger service with over a billion users worldwide, WhatsApp has mainly remained confined to mobile phones. However, this popular service is now available on PC and Mac.
WhatsApp recently announced the launch of the messaging application for Windows and Mac. In 2015, the company launched the messaging application for desktops in the form of a Chrome extension, but it only served as an annex of the mobile app.
In other words, while all the messages of the users remained on their phone, they were able to send as well as receive messages from the browser. Moreover, the users needed to download the most recent version of the mobile app to send and receive messages, while their smartphone had to be tethered to the Internet. The Chrome extension, however, was not functional on iOS devices.
Similar to the WhatsApp Web, the desktop app is just an extension of the user's phone and it mirrors messages and conversations from the user's mobile device," WhatsApp stated in a blog post. It added that the new desktop app allows users message with friends and family, while their phone remains in their pocket.
In this case too, the users need to have WhatsApp on their mobile devices first to be able to sync their account to the desktop version. However, the WhatsApp desktop app is also different from the Web client. The latest app is a separate app that operates natively on the desktop as opposed to running on a specific browser. Its functioning is very akin to other desktop apps for Skype or Slack.
The new WhatsApp desktop app also enables users to receive notifications as well as use keyboard shortcuts so that they can type away without requiring looking at their smartphones regularly. The WhatsApp desktop app is currently available for PCs running on Windows 8 and higher as well as Macs running on OS 10.9 and higher.
Currently, the WhatsApp desktop messaging app does not offer video calling facility, but it is expected to be available along with other features in the near future, PC Mag reported.
Here is how you can download WhatsApp desktop app on PC:
