WhatsApp for Web

WhatsApp for Web is a new Web Client for Chrome browser that WhatsApp has just released. I tried it out this morning. Here are my thoughts…

WhatsApp for Web – Installation

As per the WhatsApp blog, the web client is available only for Chrome browsers. It can be used for Android, Windows, Blackberry and Nokia phones. It is not available for iOS at the moment. So all you iPhone users would have to wait a while! A friend of mine tried to download on a MAC machine and she was not able to. To install, follow these steps –

1. Open this link in chrome. A QR code would be displayed on the screen.
2. Upgrade WhatsApp to the latest version. This needs to be done so that the QR code can be scanned from within the application. The option comes up only in the latest version.
3. Open WhatsApp application on your phone and bring up the options. You will see WhatsApp for Web as an option there. Click on the option to enable QR code scanning.
4. Scan the QR code from your computer’s screen.
5. That’s it! Let your phone rest and use WhatsApp on the computer 🙂

WhatsApp for Web – Navigation

The interface looks very similar to the phone app and I found it fairly easy to navigate. You can see for yourself in the image below.

WhatsApp for Web – What is Good?

• Look and Feel very similar to Phone application
• Can enable or disable desktop notifications
• Can view and download images
• Can view and download videos

WhatsApp for Web – What is Not Good?

• Phone needs to be connected to Web for the client to work
• Cannot update Profile Picture and Status
• Not available for other browsers