WhatsApp is rolling out a limited public beta test, which will bring multi-device capability to the platform. This will let users access the service on their phone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously. WhatsApp says users will be able to access their messages on these other devices, even if their main phone’s battery has died. This will mark a change from the current setup where the phone remains the primary device for connectivity to continue on other devices.

Currently, WhatsApp linked to one account number only works on the phone. Users have the option of accessing it on their desktop via WhatsApp Web, but it is dependent on the phone for the connection to continue. With the new public beta, all of this will change.

How does it work?
According to the blog post by the company, “WhatsApp’s legacy architecture used a smartphone as the source of truth. But with the new multi-device capability, up to four other non-phone companion devices can connect to WhatsApp independently while still maintaining the same level of privacy and security.”

The blog post further mentions, “WhatsApp server securely stores a copy of each application state that all of someone’s devices can access. To properly secure this, all the information, and even the metadata about the information (what kind of user data is stored or accessed), is end-to-end encrypted with constantly changing keys known only to that person’s devices.”

WhatsApp is rolling out a limited public beta test, which will bring multi-device capability to the platform. This will let users access the service on their phone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously. WhatsApp says users will be able to access their messages on these other devices, even if their main phone’s battery has died. This will mark a change from the current setup where the phone remains the primary device for connectivity to continue on other devices.

Currently, WhatsApp linked to one account number only works on the phone. Users have the option of accessing it on their desktop via WhatsApp Web, but it is dependent on the phone for the connection to continue. With the new public beta, all of this will change.

How does it work?
According to the blog post by the company, “WhatsApp’s legacy architecture used a smartphone as the source of truth. But with the new multi-device capability, up to four other non-phone companion devices can connect to WhatsApp independently while still maintaining the same level of privacy and security.”

The blog post further mentions, “WhatsApp server securely stores a copy of each application state that all of someone’s devices can access. To properly secure this, all the information, and even the metadata about the information (what kind of user data is stored or accessed), is end-to-end encrypted with constantly changing keys known only to that person’s devices.”