WhatsApp wrote to the public through their blog today, on the 11th of May, announcing the introduction of their Desktop App which now lets users stay connected on WhatsApp with their phones in their pockets.
According to WhatsApp, you can stay in touch regardless of whether you’re at home or work, by replying through your desktop whilst still going about your other duties.
The new app provides the same service as WhatsApp Web does, by mirroring your chats from your phone onto your desktop screen. Since you will use a native application, desktop notifications are possible as well as better support for shortcuts from the keyboard.
The new WhatsApp Desktop App is compatible with devices running Mac OS 10.9+ and Windows 8+.
In order to download the desktop application:
- Visit the WhatsApp Website
- Go to WhatsApp on your phone and visit the ‘Settings’ menu. Hit the ‘WhatsApp Web’ tile and it will pull up your camera.
- Point your camera lens to your desktop screen to scan the QR code and you are all set to go!
16 months prior to the Desktop App, WhatsApp introduced support to use their chat messenger on desktops through their website. The Web App connects to a smartphone in much the same way as the Desktop App, by scanning the QR code on the screen.
While the utility of bringing a native app to your desktop might be in question, we think it’s a splendid move. WhatsApp is the single most famous messenger platform used across the World.
With its availability over both smartphones and desktops, the Facebook owned company looks to be trying to make their user experiences as seamless as possible.
The introduction of WhatsApp’s Desktop App will also ruffle feathers among native web-chat applications like MSN, Yahoo and Google Chat as well as closed-chat services like ‘iMessenger’.
