Meta-owned messaging application WhatsApp has announced a new feature which lets you operate your account on four different phones or devices at the same time. Earlier, one account could be operated from one mobile phone only. However, one could still open WhatsApp on a web browser or PC. For a long time, users had been demanding a feature that lets them use the same account from different mobile phones.
The new feature will be rolled out over the coming weeks. A blog post by the company mentioned that the new feature would allow users to seamlessly continue message threads and access all their photos and other media from multiple devices without compromising security or privacy.
The procedure to log in is similar to that of linking a PC or web browser. At a given time, up to four additional smartphones can be linked to one WhatsApp account. However, the primary phone retains the power to authorise a login.
Here's how you can use WhatsApp on 4 different devices:
1) Open WhatsApp on the second phone
2) Click on Settings
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3) Select 'Linked devices'
4) Follow instructions to verify your identity if any ID check is set up
5) Use your primary phone's camera to capture the QR code from the secondary device
6) The primary phone doesn't even need to be turned on or have an active data connection for you to use your account through the other phone
7) If the primary phone is signed out for a while, all companion devices will automatically be signed out.
The new feature may come in handy to small business owners for better communication with customers. It may also help someone running low on battery to login from someone else's phone. The company has also revealed that it is working on an OTP-based authentication system as an alternative to the current QR code system.