WhatsApp has released a new app for Microsoft Windows that adds a bunch of new features, including group video calls.
Using WhatsApp on a Windows laptop typically feels much like using the basic web browser version. However, this new app goes some way to bulking up the experience.
The WhatsApp Windows app now supports eight-way video calls and audio chats with up to 32 people. Meta says these interactions will be end-to-end encrypted, just like normal WhatsApp chats on your phone.
Own a Mac instead of a PC? A desktop client is available from the WhatsApp website, but this does not currently let you make group video calls, only ones to individuals.
This is part of the slow evolution of WhatsApp as something you use on only your phone, to a chat platform you can enjoy on most of your key tech devices.
It began with WhatsApp Web in 2015, an online interface that lets you chat over WhatsApp in a web browser.
Non-phone WhatsApp platforms became a lot stronger in 2021 with a feature called Muti-device. This lets you use the service on laptops and desktops for up to two weeks, even if your phone was turned off or — gulp — dead. It spent a while in beta before becoming a normal WhatsApp feature in March 2022.
The next step for WhatsApp is Companion Mode. This lets you use the same WhatsApp account on a second phone — handy if you switch between work and personal phones, or for putting a lid on migration anxiety when switching to a new phone.
WhatsApp Companion Mode is currently in beta, and was introduced to the Android version of the platform in November 2022.
How secure is WhatsApp?
On March 9, WhatsApp said it would rather be blocked in the UK than weaken its encryption under the Government’s Online Safety Bill.
End-to-end encryption means no one can see the contents of your messages, including WhatsApp itself. However, the Online Safety Bill puts the onus on tech platforms to identify and remove child abuse content distributed on platforms, including when it is sent privately. This is incompatible with end-to-end encryption.
“It’s hard to imagine we’re having this conversation about a liberal democracy that might go around people’s ability to communicate privately,” said WhatsApp head, Will Cathcart, at a media briefing earlier this month.
