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WhatsApp chief on releasing iPad app: 'We'd love to do it'

WhatsApp chief on releasing iPad app: 'We'd love to do it'


The head of WhatsApp has a message for those struggling with the native iPad app: Don't give up hope.

"People have wanted an iPad app for a long time." Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp at its parent company Meta, told The Verge during an interview this week a new US marketing push for the messaging app. "We'd love to do it."

Like Instagram for iPad, a version of WhatsApp for Apple's tablet has long shunned users, despite being a highly requested feature. And while Cathcart will not commit to releasing an iPad version, their comments suggest that it is possible that one will be made in the near future, especially now that WhatsApp has built the underlying technology needed for such a client to work. Is. ,

"We've done a lot of work on the technology to support multiple devices," Cathcart said last year, referencing the rollout of opt-in, multi-device support for WhatsApp. "Our web and our desktop apps now have that. If I have multi-device turned on, I can turn off my phone or lose my network connection and still receive messages on my desktop. Tablet app What will be really important to us is to be able to use the app even if your phone is not on. So is the underlying technology."

Because of the way WhatsApp encrypts messages, it has historically not been able to sync chats across devices on the Internet like most other messaging apps work. So if WhatsApp doesn't have internet in your phone, the desktop client doesn't work. The beta version of Multi-Device Support lets you sync your WhatsApp account on up to four devices at once, a process that involves mapping a device identifier to an account key on WhatsApp's servers in a way that doesn't work right now. does not do. Encrypted as well. Now that this kind of syncing technology exists, there's a good chance that one of WhatsApp for iPad is finally on the horizon.

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