Turns Out, Since 2023, You Can Use WhatsApp Across Multiple Phones

WhatsApp, on their official blog back in April 2023:

Last year, we introduced the ability for users globally to message seamlessly across all their devices, while maintaining the same level of privacy and security.

Today, we’re improving our multi-device offering further by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones.

A feature highly requested by users, now you can link your phone as one of up to four additional devices, the same as when you link with WhatsApp on web browsers, tablets and desktops. Each linked phone connects to WhatsApp independently, ensuring that your personal messages, media, and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and if your primary device is inactive for a long period, we automatically log you out of all companion devices.

When I wrote about WhatsApp finally shipping for iPad earlier this week, I mentioned that you couldn’t use a secondary phone as a linked device to your primary phone. That used to be true, but obviously, I missed that this changed two years ago. Glad to know it. I’ve already added my Android burner and my spare iPhone that I use for summer iOS betas. WhatsApp has a support document on linking devices that explains the somewhat hidden way you do this with a secondary phone. My thanks to several readers who pointed me to this.

This makes it seem all the more spiteful, though, that Meta didn’t allow the iPhone version of WhatsApp to run on iPads (like they do with the still-iPhone-only Instagram app). I heard from a little birdie this week — second- or maybe even third-hand, so take it with a grain of salt — that Meta had this WhatsApp for iPad version ready to go for a while, and has been more or less sitting on an iPad version of Instagram, as a couple negotiating chits with Apple. Negotiating for what, I don’t know. But if that’s true, perhaps some (but definitely not all) of the ice has thawed between the two companies. I don’t see it happening, but it sure would get a big audience response if Instagram for iPad got some sort of announcement during the WWDC keynote, perhaps as part of an “iPadOS is now a fuller, more complete, computing experience than ever” segment.

One other oddity I encountered, when adding my Android phone as a linked device: by design, there is no way to sign out of WhatsApp on your primary iOS or Android device. If you are signed in to WhatsApp using another phone number, the only way to sign out on that device and then set it up as a linked device to your primary WhatsApp account is to delete WhatsApp from your phone and reinstall it. Weird.

★ Saturday, 7 June 2025