Well, those leaks were spot on. WhatsApp founder Jan Koum just announced (via Facebook, naturally) that the hugely popular messaging company has launched a web client that'll let users fire off messages from inside Google Chrome. As Koum points out, WhatsApp for the web is only an extension of the mobile apps you're already familiar with, meaning all of your lengthy conversations and exchanges still live primarily on your phone. Make no mistake: WhatsApp is still the epitome of a mobile-first company. Just to ram that point home, the (characteristically simple) setup process requires you to scan a QR code from the mobile app of your choosing. For now though, the client only plays nice with Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone versions of the app -- Koum fingered "platform limitations" as the reason why iOS users can't join in on the fun.
Here's the thing, though: WhatsApp Web requires that you install and run the latest version of the mobile app on your phone, and it just might not be available yet. We just tried a fresh install of WhatsApp on an Android device and it seems to lack the "Web" menu option that allows the app to scan the QR code necessary to forge the connection. That said, getting everything set up from a BlackBerry 10 was an utter cakewalk -- once you've scanned that code, you're dumped right into a sleek web interface where you can pick up where you left off with your friends.
Filed under: Mobile
Source: Jan Koum (Facebook), WhatsApp Web
0 comments:
Post a Comment