WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart has revealed that the company “would love” to deliver a native iPad app after acknowledging that users have been waiting for it for a long time.
WhatsApp is one of the only major messaging platforms that doesn’t offer a tablet app for iPad or Android. But Cathcart says “the underlying technology is there” now that WhatsApp offers proper multi-device support.
WhatsApp wants to make an iPad app
For years now, there has been speculation around WhatsApp working to finally bring a native app to iPad. But it has never materialized. That’s despite the fact that “people have wanted an iPad app for a long time,” Cathcart admitted.
Can we expect that to change at some point? It certainly looks promising. In a recent interview with The Verge, Cathcart, head of WhatsApp at Meta, said it is a move the messaging platform “would love” to make.
So, why hasn’t it happened already? WhatsApp is so closely tied to a user’s phone number that allowing the same account to be used on multiple devices has been complicated. However, WhatsApp has now fixed that problem.
Last year, the company rolled out true multi-device support for all users, enabling a smoother experience across mobile and desktop devices — and negating the need for desktops to be connected through a phone at all times.
‘The underlying technology is there’
“We did a lot of work on the technology for supporting multiple devices,” Cathcart said. “That would be really important for a tablet app, to be able to use the app even if your phone isn’t on. So the underlying technology is there.”
This is promising news for iPad owners who want to be able to keep up with their WhatsApp chats on a bigger screen. Although Cathcart didn’t explicitly say WhatsApp is coming to iPad, it seems more likely now than it ever has before.
