There has been a desktop version of WhatsApp since 2015 when the messaging app released WhatsApp web. On its own, WhatsApp web works well as a PC version of the Facebook-owned app. It looks similar to the mobile app and has much the same feature set, although you can’t make voice or video calls from WhatsApp Web. It is so handy that, thanks to this neat Softonic tutorial, I often use WhatsApp Web as my go-to solution for sending files and photos quickly, easily, and securely from my phone to my PC and vice versa.
There is one catch, however, when it comes to WhatsApp Web and that is that it doesn’t work unless you link it to your phone. Once your phone is linked, you’ll be able to use WhatsApp Web as long as your phone is connected to the internet, even if you don’t have it with you. Without that connection though, WhatsApp Web is useless. All you’ll get is a page asking you to link your phone. It has now come out though, that this might be about to change.
New WhatsApp web will work even when your phone is off
The UWP is the Universal Windows platform. When an app is developed for the UWP it will work on Windows 10, Windows Phone, Xbox, and other Microsoft platforms like HoloLens. According to the ever-reliable WhatsApp tipsters over at WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is currently working on a new UWP version of WhatsApp. This means that there might soon be a version of WhatsApp that you can download and install officially on your Xbox.
And yes, in according to my rumor, UWP + the new multi platform system = you can use WhatsApp UWP on your PC if your phone (Android, iOS or Windows Phone) is off. https://t.co/PgNZTnOxlj
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) July 26, 2019
The really exciting news about this latest development, however, is relating to the app itself and not just its platforms. The leak says that the new WhatsApp UWP app will work even when the user’s phone is switched off. This means the UWP version of WhatsApp will enjoy its own independent connection to the WhatsApp servers. If you’ve had your phone die, and let’s be honest that has happened to all of us, then you’ll know just how useful this could be. At the moment, whenever your phone has battery or not, you can’t send or receive WhatsApp messages. It is as simple as that.
Wrapping up
This move pushes WhatsApp towards a more internet-focused messaging service that you can use on your phone. There are lots of questions that will need answering as the UWP app moves along the development path, including how many active connections a single account will be able to have at the same time. Scrolling down through all of the Twitter comments celebrating this latest development, however, finds another pressing question that could change WhatsApp fundamentally. When the UWP version of WhatsApp is released, will you even need a phone or phone number to use it?
