More than a decade later, WhatsApp finally brings out an iPad app
Signal, Telegram and other messenger services have long had apps for both smartphones and tablets. But WhatsApp, even a decade after both messenger apps and tablets became mainstream, hasn't been available on iPads - until now.
The long-awaited iPad app, now out on the App Store, brings all the familiar features but in a larger format with synchronized chats across devices. The app also works with Apple's Magic Keyboard and can be controlled with the Apple Pencil.
Until now, anyone who wanted to use WhatsApp on an iPad could only do so using the browser version of the messenger. The big disadvantage here was that your mobile phone needed to stay connected at all times.
Thanks to the iPad's larger size and multitasking features (which allows you to use several apps simultaneously) you can now have WhatsApp and a video or shopping app open side by side, for example.
WhatsApp is already available as a standalone app for the Mac, alongside smartphones. Users are still waiting for a standalone Instagram app for iPads, however tech news media have reported Meta is working on a tablet version.
WhatsApp - first launched in 2009, a year before the first iPad was unveiled - said the iPad app was one of the most requested from users.
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