Waiting is over: WhatsApp will start providing access to an account on more than one device. On Wednesday (14), the messenger announced the start of testing of the feature that will allow the use of the same credential on up to four different platforms. End-to-end encryption will also be maintained.
The feature will begin to be implemented after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart confirmed the news. In an interview, executives stated that the novelty would be released to users of the beta version of the app in up to two months.
Just over a month after confirmation, the tool is about to reach WhatsApp Beta. According to the messenger, you can use an account on up to four different devices at the same time. In addition, the message history will be synchronized between all authenticated devices.
WhatsApp can be used on up to four devices
The tool will promote a major change in the operation of the messenger. Currently, users need to keep their phone turned on and connected to the internet to use the messaging app through other platforms. Otherwise, the options for accessing the account by the computer, such as WhatsApp Web, do not work.
With the new feature, each device will work independently. This means that, like Telegram, you no longer need to keep your phone close or on, as each device will have its own ID. In all, you can connect the account on up to four different platforms.
Conversations will also be available on all authenticated devices. According to the messenger, both the message history and the app state data will be synchronized between the devices. “All of this data is synchronized and encrypted end-to-end between your devices,” they said.
End-to-end encryption will be maintained
The task, however, was not simple. The messenger stated that “the challenge was to keep the user experience secure across multiple devices without having to store people’s private messages on our servers in new ways.” Even so, end-to-end encryption, one of the service’s flagships, will remain.
The messenger explains that now each device will have its own identification. “The WhatsApp server maintains a mapping between each person’s account and all their device identities,” they said. “When someone wants to send a message, they receive the keys from the server’s device list.”
Those responsible for the app have also taken steps to prevent conversations from being spied on by a malicious or compromised server. “We also include additional control and protections over which devices are linked to the account,” they said. That is, in addition to the QR Code, already known by those who use WhatsApp Web, you will also need to use biometrics to access the account on another platform.
Initially, the feature will be available to a “small group of users” of WhatsApp Beta. “WhatsApp will continue to optimize performance and add features before making this new one more widely available,” they said. “Users who choose to participate in this test can always opt out.”
It is not yet known when the novelty will reach the final version of the messenger.
Updated at 4:22 p.m.: initially, the story said that access with the same account could be done on two phones. The text was corrected after WhatsApp clarified about compatible devices.
