WhatsApp’s much-vaunted companion mode, a fundamental shift in the way the messaging app operates, has finally made its way to the iPhone one month after it was rolled out to Android users (and five months after it first showed up on the beta version). With it, those using an iPhone as a secondary device will now be able to use their WhatsApp account on it without having to sign out of their primary device first.
You’ll be able to set up companion mode when opening a fresh install of WhatsApp for the first time. Underneath the usual text field for inputting your phone number is a new option to link your iPhone to your existing WhatsApp account. Upon selecting it, you’ll be presented with a QR code that can be scanned using your primary device—exactly as you would on WhatsApp Desktop or WhatsApp Web. As previously reported, you’d be able to use companion mode on up to four devices at once.
According to WABetaInfo, companion mode was added to version 23.10.76 of the app, which was released yesterday. In the changelog, WhatsApp said the feature will be rolled out to users in the coming weeks, so if you don’t see it now (no, we haven’t received it either), you’ll just have to wait a little while.
Unlike most other messaging apps like Telegram or Slack, each WhatsApp account is tied to a phone number; before this, you would’ve had to create a separate account if you wanted to use the app on more than one phone. And since end-to-end encryption is turned on by default, you’d have to back up your entire messaging history to the cloud if you wanted to switch devices without losing data, which made our job of reviewing phones a living hell.
Thankfully, companion mode has the potential to solve those issues, adding to the list of features carried over from other competing services such as the ability to edit messages. Now, if only WhatsApp would release its damn iPad app already…
