Though it took several months of testing this feature in the beta phase to ensure it’s bug-free before rolling it out to the public. Now, the WhatsApp multi-device feature is rolling out globally to all users.
The Multi-device feature allows you to use WhatsApp on up to 4 devices without needing your primary device always connected to an active internet network.
What this means is that you can simply link other devices to your main WhatsApp account even when your main WhatsApp account is not connected to the internet.
However, WhatsApp will disconnect you from the paired devices if you don’t use your phone for more than 14 days. WhatsApp confirms that it enables end-to-end encryption on the chats that take place using connected devices. So neither WhatsApp nor a third party can read the messages you send or receive on your connected PCs or laptops.
How to Use the Multi-Device Feature
To use the multi-device feature, users are required to update their WhatsApp to the latest version. Once done, you can follow these steps to use WhatsApp on multiple devices:
- Open Whatsapp on your Android smartphone and tap on the three-dot menu. Select Linked devices. WhatsApp iOS users can select Linked devices by tapping the Settings icon.
- Select Link a device.
- Unlock your phone with biometric authentication or enter the pin.
- Open web.whatsapp.com or WhatsApp Desktop app on your PC or laptop.
- Scan the QR code through your smartphone.
Once linked, WhatsApp can be simultaneously accessed on different devices to send and receive messages. It should be noted that a few features are not supported on linked devices.