WhatsApp is now rolling out multi-device login support for more than one phone to all users on iOS and Android.
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has today announced the feature’s rollout on his Facebook and Instagram pages.
“Starting today, you can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones,” he said.
With the new rollout, all WhatsApp messages will be synced across all linked devices and will also be end-to-end encrypted. Users will also be able to use their accounts on their linked devices even when the primary device is off.
Before this feature update, WhatsApp users could only use one WhatsApp account on one phone and multiple companion desktop devices.
This feature will be particularly useful for small businesses that might want multiple employees to be able to send and receive messages from the same business number via different phones.
It is also useful for anyone who uses multiple smartphones on a regular basis and wants them all to be associated with the same WhatsApp account.
When to expect the update
According to the WhatsApp blog post, this feature has started rolling out to users globally and should be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
Privacy concerns
Now, you might be a little bit skeptical about this rollout since someone, say a jealous spouse, can easily link their device to your WhatsApp account.
Well, according to WhatsApp, users will be able to check whether there are other devices connected to their account and log them out remotely from their phone.
I, however, wish WhatsApp implemented some sort of alert or an additional layer of authentication whenever your account got linked. This is because it’s pretty difficult to keep checking whether your account is linked to some rogue device on a daily basis.
How to link your devices
You can have a look at our detailed article on how to link your account to multiple devices over here.
The Meta owned messaging app is also rolling out a new way to link devices using a one-time code.
“You can now get a one-time-use code by entering your mobile number on WhatsApp Web, which you can use to link devices instead of scanning the QR code on your mobile phone. We’ll make this feature available for more linked devices in the future,” the company said in a blog post.
The WhatsApp multi-device feature is a welcome addition for users who want to use the messaging service across multiple devices. It provides convenience and flexibility while maintaining the security and privacy of personal messages.
