WhatsApp Developing New Catalyst Mac and iPad App

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 16 Nov 2021

WhatsApp End to End Encrypted

WhatsApp is rumored to have been working on a dedicated iPad app for a couple of years now. The last report suggested the company was working on a native iPad app with multi-device support. Now, more information has surfaced in this regard, indicating that WhatsApp is working on a new macOS Catalyst app that will also be available for the iPad.

The new macOS and iPad Catalyst app will look the same. WhatsApp already has an app for macOS, but that’s a web wrapper. So, the new Catalyst app should bring about a usability improvement. The information comes from WABetaInfo that has a pretty accurate record of sharing upcoming WhatsApp features. It does note that there’s no word on when the iPad app will be released and plans surrounding it could still change since it is under development. WhatsApp is also working on a UWP app for Windows PCs and devices.

WhatsApp will likely only release an iPad app after it has fully rolled out multi-device support. The feature makes it possible to use the messaging service on up to four devices, excluding your primary phone. It will keep all your messages synced across devices, and you’ll receive new messages even if your phone is not connected to the internet.

With Catalyst, developers only need to create one app that can work on both macOS and iPadOS. Apple itself uses Catalyst for several of its iPad and macOS apps like Music, Apple TV+, and others.

[Via WABetaInfo]