WhatsApp has rolled out its web service to Apple iPhone users, allowing them to send and receive messages on their computers as well as their phones.
Support for iOS has been a long time coming, but now means WhatsApp offers its web option - which works on both Mac and PC - to users with most phones running Windows, Google, Blackberry and Nokia operating systems.
Those with the latest version of the phone app (available for free in Apple’s app store) should find a new “web” menu option under “settings” – although the function is being rolled out in stages and will not be immediately available to all.
WhatsApp web will sync or “mirror” data with the phone app, allowing messages to be received and sent in-browser. But the web app is not standalone: the phone must be connected to the internet or the conversation will drop out, and all of users’ messages will remain on the phone.
To sync iPhones with the web client, users first must scan a QR code from WhatsApp’s website using their phone.
WhatsApp’s web client was originally launched in January 2015, but this is the first time it has been available for iPhones.
In a blogpost to announce the initial release of its web presence, WhatsApp wrote:
“Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device – this means all of your messages still live on your phone.”
At the time, it was stated that the company would “not be able to provide web client to our iOS users due to Apple platform limitations.”
WhatsApp’s vice president, Neeraj Arora, has since retweeted the good news for Apple fans.
The messaging app is one of the most popular across all platforms and was bought for $19b (£12b) by Facebook in February 2014. Founder Jan Koum reported 800m monthly active users in April 2015.
