WhatsApp is coming to the desktop, thanks to a web client that launched today for Chrome and Android. WhatsApp confirmed earlier rumors, which pointed to a newly live page at web.whatsapp.com.
“The primary use is of course still on your phone,” a spokesman said,
“but there are people who spend time in front of a computer at home or
at work and this will help bridge the two.”
Your
phone will need to stay connected to the web for the client to work,
and all user messages will still reside on the phone, but WhatsApp is
hoping the client will give users more flexibility. A spokesman said the
company plans to bring the same experience to iOS, although the
timeframe is still unclear. Detailing the features in a subsequent blog post, the company said, “we really hope you find web client useful in your everyday lives.”
With
more than 600 million users, WhatsApp is one of the largest chat
clients in the world, and the app’s growth has fueled rumors concerning
the company’s next move. In November, WhatsApp partnered with Whisper Systems for end-to-end encryption, bringing strong security to an unusually broad user base. In December, the company’s plans for voice-calling were revealed by images scraped from WhatsApp’s public site, although the company has yet to publicly release the feature.
