WhatsApp Multi-Device Support Is Live For Beta Users: How It Works

After a ton of waiting and delay, WhatsApp has finally started rolling out multi-device features on its most recent beta builds on iOS and Android versions of WhatsApp.

WABetaInfo

Also Read: WhatsApp Multi-Device Support Coming Soon, Zuckerberg & WhatsApp Chief Confirm

Reported first by WABetaInfo, the feature is currently active on the latest beta updates and allows users to connect to WhatsApp Web without requiring an internet connection on your smartphone, something that was originally the case.

In case you want to see if you¡¯re one of the lucky ones to get the feature, simply head to WhatsApp Web and over there, right below the ¡®Link a device¡¯ tab, you should be able to see a ¡®Multi-device beta¡¯ tab, telling you that your app version has the feature enabled.

Clicking on it, it will ask you to manually join the beta program. After joining, the account will allow you to use WhatsApp Web without requiring your smartphone to be constantly connected to the internet.

WABetaInfo highlights that some users could experience glitches in messaging with users who aren¡¯t on the latest version of WhatsApp. They don¡¯t need to be on the beta version, just on the latest version of WhatsApp to have a seamless experience.

How does this work?

WhatsApp essentially will send the message you receive from one device to all of your linked devices. This doesn¡¯t mean WhatsApp has access to your chats or it¡¯s storing them on a cloud server. It is simply sharing the same encrypted message on multiple devices.

WABetaInfo explains that WhatsApp simply transfers chat history from one device to another when the devices are linked. And this is done with the existing encryption. When the transfer process is completed, all keys are deleted from the new companion device, and messages will be saved in a local database. The messages, calls, status updates continue to remain end-to-end encrypted, even if you join the multi-device beta program.

Also Read: New WhatsApp Features Coming In 2021: Multiple Device Support And Web Calls

What about encryption?

The chats still remain encrypted. WhatsApp in a blog post explains how, ¡°When people message each other in a one-on-one chat, a pairwise encrypted session is established between each of the sender¡¯s and recipient¡¯s devices. WhatsApp multi-device uses a client-fanout approach, where the WhatsApp client sending the message encrypts and transmits it N number of times to N number of different devices ¡ª those in the sender and receiver¡¯s device lists. Each message is individually encrypted using the established pairwise encryption session with each device. Messages are not stored on the server after they are delivered. For groups, we still use the same scalable Sender Key encryption scheme from the Signal Protocol.¡±

Getty Images

WhatsApp switch between iOS and Android?

Not really, at least as of now. It is important to note that this is the first version of multi-device and it doesn¡¯t really support adding another smartphone to it just yet. This means you cannot go about hopping from one phone to another or from an Android device to an iOS device just yet.

Also Read: WhatsApp Will Allow You To Move Chats Between iPhone And Android: Here's How

However, hopefully, with future updates, we can expect this feature to be rolled out. As of now, with the multi-device support, you have the ability to pair up to four devices to your WhatsApp account. Moreover, voice and video calls also work across linked devices.