WhatsApp updates are usually about new features or tweaks to old ones. Apart from the recent introduction of WhatsApp Business, it is never about a new app altogether. Well, alongside the addition of WhatsApp Business the Apple App Store, WhatsApp users on iOS will soon have another brand-new app available to them.
An official WhatsApp for iPad is currently being developed
With each new release of an updated WhatsApp beta version, we learn about future tweaks coming to our favorite messaging app. Version 2.19.40 for iOS, however, has something much bigger. As well as the usual adjustments and bug fixes, 2.19.40 also has information on an official WhatsApp for iPad.
Until now, the only way to use WhatsApp on your iPad has been through using WhatsApp Web via your iPad’s web browser. This has meant that you’ve needed to maintain an active connection to the internet (via your linked mobile phone) to work WhatsApp on your iPad. If your phone has no connection to the internet, even if your iPad does, you can’t use WhatsApp on your iPad. It now looks like this situation is due to change.
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Read Now ►The first major thing to note about the official WhatsApp for iPad is that it requires a new registration, including a new mobile phone number. Don’t worry if your iPad doesn’t have a SIM card slot, however, as you can still receive your account confirmation code on another device and then simply input it on your iPad. The only thing you will need is a unique mobile phone number that isn’t already attached to a WhatsApp account.
From there, the differences are mostly aesthetic with the iPad WhatsApp taking advantage of the increased screen size found on the iPad. You can see below that you’ll be able to see both the list of all your chats and your current active chat at the same time, both in portrait and landscape mode.
This will make it much easier to chat with multiple friends at once, skipping between different chats without having to change the screen you’re looking at, like on an iPhone. This also gives the upcoming official iPad WhatsApp a bit of a Facebook Messenger feel.
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Read Now ►This split screen aesthetic will also carry over to the Calls screen, with a list of all calls showing next to the particular call you’ve selected at the time. The Settings menu too will appear with the split screen presentation, showing the general settings menu on the left of the screen and the options of the currently selected menu on the right.
Mostly, the app will be the same as the iPhone app, it’ll just be able to show more on the screen as iPad screens are much bigger. According to WABetaInfo, who discovered the code for the iPad WhatsApp, the only real difference is the lack of a Camera tab in the new app.
The official WhatsApp for iPad still isn’t available, even for WhatsApp beta users. All we know now is that WhatsApp is working on a new app for iPad. When we have more about when we can expect to see it in the Apple App Store, we’ll let you know.
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