Victor Ezeja
Highlights
WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple devices
WhatsApp users can now use same account on multiple phones
Works in Android and iPhones
Meta-owned popular social media platform, WhatsApp has introduced new features which allow users to log into up to four smartphones with the same account, simultaneously.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe CEO of Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg, made this known in a statement posted on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday.
“Starting today [Tuesday], you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Prior to the Tuesday announcement, users could only log into one account on only one phone, and an attempt to log in on another phone would log the user out of the previous phone.
The new feature which works across both iOS and Android devices, will be most useful for people who use multiple smartphones on a regular basis and that want them all to be associated with the same WhatsApp account.
How To Activate it
It requires that when setting up a secondary phone to use with a WhatsApp account, there should be a fresh install of the app.
Another option is rather than entering the user’s phone number during setup and logging in as usual, the user will instead tap a new “link to existing account” option. This will generate a QR code to be scanned by the primary WhatsApp phone via the “link a device” option in settings.
The original phone that signed into the WhatsApp account is considered the “primary” device. This however, it is not necessary for it to be turned on in order to receive messages from other devices (phones, tablets, or desktops) connected to the WhatsApp account.
WhatsApp, however, says that it would log out other devices if the primary smartphone is inactive for more than 14 days.
READ ALSO: NCC Advises Nigerians To Enable Two-factor Authentication For WhatsApp Security
Also, users can manually log off connected devices from their primary device.
Users can access and use WhatsApp on any of the devices once secondary phones have been connected to their account. Up to a year of messages will sync between devices, so users will be able to see chat histories before sending any new messages. Messages sync across phones regardless of their operating systems, whether it’s iOS to Android or vice versa.
Personal messages remain end-to-end encrypted, regardless of whether users are using the multi-device feature.
The feature will be a useful tool for small businesses that might want multiple employees to be able to send and receive messages from the same business number via different phones.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
