WhatsApp is one of the most used instant messaging apps. Millions of users use the platform daily for personal communication, business, and whatnot. Despite its popularity, WhatsApp remains a messaging app that lacks a lot of features. Even with recent updates and features, the Meta-owned company is still catching up with the likes of Telegram and Facebook Messenger, but it still remains behind those apps when it comes to features.
One of the biggest annoyances of WhatsApp is the inability to use the account with the same phone number on multiple smartphones. Currently, if you log in with your phone number on a new device, the service automatically logs out from the first device and erases all the data. You cannot use the account with the same phone number on two devices simultaneously.
Source: Pocketnow video
The company does allow you to link your WhatsApp account to up to four additional devices using the Multi-Device feature. But, even using this feature, you can't link it to a smartphone. You can only link it to the WhatsApp Web service or its desktop apps. The company has been working on multi-device 2.0 to expand the feature's functionality, which could bring the ability to use the same phone number on two mobile devices simultaneously, but we are yet to see it in action.
On the other hand, apps like Telegram have supported this feature from the start, and you can use the app on any number of smartphones simultaneously. The chats also sync up almost instantly. It now appears that a similar feature might be (finally) headed to WhatsApp for Android and iPhone as the reliable tipster WABetaInfo has shared some details about the feature's development.
WhatsApp Companion Mode
Source: WABetaInfo
WABetaInfo claims that WhatsApp is actively developing a Companion Mode behind the scenes. This feature will allow users to link an additional mobile device with their account. Even though this would expand the availability of your WhatsApp account on only one additional mobile device, it would be a great feature for those using a work phone and personal phone simultaneously.
The publication spotted the feature working on WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.22.15.13. The screenshot shared (shown above) shows that Companion Mode would work in a similar fashion to the currently available Multi-Device feature. The chat sync would start once you link a mobile device with your account. An indicator with the label "chat history is syncing" would show up in the chats. Of course, the time taken will depend upon the number (and size) of the conversations.
The report claims that chats are copied securely to the companion device. However, if you log in with a new number on a companion device, WhatsApp will delete all the existing chats, media, and messages from that device for safety and privacy reasons. The chats and messages would still be available on the primary device, though.
WhatsApp Companion Mode: Release Date
Source: Pocketnow video
The feature has only been spotted on the latest WhatsApp beta for Android (2.22.15.13). Currently, there is no way to manually enable the companion mode on any version of WhatsApp. The report claims that WhatsApp is still developing the feature and it could still be a while before the feature enters beta testing. And only after the public beta testing ends, the feature will be made available on the stable version, so there might be some time before you can use it on your device.
What are your thoughts on WhatsApp Companion Mode? How would you benefit from this feature? Let us know in the comments section below!