
WhatsApp launches long-awaited iPad app
WhatsApp is officially available on iPad, Meta announced on Tuesday. The new iPad app allows you to make video and audio calls with up to 32 people, share your screen, and use both front and back cameras. Up until now, if you wanted to use WhatsApp on your iPad, you had to use the web version in a browser.
The company says users will be able to take advantage of iPadOS multitasking features, such as Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over. These features will allow users to do things like view multiple apps at once, send messages while browsing the web, or research options for a group trip while on a call together. On mobile, you would have to switch away from WhatsApp when doing these sorts of things.
The new iPad app also works with your Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, WhatsApp says.
With this new app, users will be able to keep everything in sync across their iPhone, Mac, and other devices. Personal messages, calls, and media will still be protected with WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption.
The launch of the dedicated iPad app doesn't come as a complete surprise, as Meta's WhatsApp account on X (formerly Twitter) teased the news yesterday with a subtle tweet.
It's worth noting that Instagram, one of Meta's other apps, is reportedly working on an iPad app as well.
The dedicated iPad app is now available to download on the App Store.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Justice Department drops lawsuit against Trump adviser Peter Navarro
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is dropping a lawsuit that it filed against White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a case in which he was accused of using an unofficial email account for government work and wrongfully retaining presidential records during the first Trump administration, according to a Tuesday court filing. The joint filing by the Justice Department and an attorney for Navarro doesn't explain why they are abandoning a case that was filed in 2022, during President Joe Biden's term in office. The one-page filing says each side will bear their own fees and costs. The lawsuit accused Navarro of using at least one 'non-official' email account — a ProtonMail account — to send and receive emails. The legal action comes just weeks after Navarro was indicted on criminal charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Navarro served a four-month prison sentence after being found guilty of misdemeanor charges. The civil cases alleges that by using the unofficial email account, Navarro failed to turn over presidential records to the National Archives and Records Administration. The government notified the court of the lawsuit's dismissal a day before U.S. Magistrate G. Michael Harvey was scheduled to preside over a status conference for the case. A Justice Department spokesperson and a lawyer for Navarro didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Navarro served as a trade adviser during President Donald Trump's first term. A longtime critic of trade arrangements with China, he has been named senior counselor for trade and manufacturing for Trump's second administration.


Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Fed lifts restrictions placed on Wells Fargo in 2018 because of its fake-accounts scandal
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that Wells Fargo is no longer subject to the restraints the Fed placed on the bank in 2018 for having a toxic sales and banking culture. It's a win for Wells Fargo, which has spent nearly a decade trying to convince the public and policymakers that it had changed its ways. 'We are a different and far stronger company today because of the work we've done,' said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf in a statement. Scharf also announced that each of the 215,000 employees at Wells Fargo would receive a $2,000 award for turning the bank around. Wells Fargo used to have a corporate culture where it placed unreasonable sales goals on its branch employees, which resulted in employees opening up millions of fake accounts in order to meet those goals. Wells' top executives called its branches 'stores' and employees were expected to cross-sell customers into as many banking products as possible, even if the customer did not want or need them. After an investigation by The Los Angeles Times, Wells Fargo shut down its sales culture and fired much of its leadership and board of directors. The fake accounts scandal cost Wells Fargo billions of dollars in fines and lost business, and permanently tarnished its reputation, particularly because the scandal broke only a few years after the Great Recession and financial crisis. It was later revealed that Wells Fargo opened up roughly 3.5 million accounts that were not wanted or needed by customers. In order to push Wells to fix itself, the Federal Reserve took the unusual step of placing Wells Fargo in a program where the bank could grow no larger than it was in 2018. No bank had previously been placed into such a program, known as an asset cap. Since taking over in 2019, Scharf's goal has been to convince the Federal Reserve that Wells Fargo had fixed its toxic banking practices.

Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Federal judge blocks Florida from enforcing social media ban for kids while lawsuit continues
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has barred state officials from enforcing a Florida law that would ban social media accounts for young children, while a legal challenge against the law plays out. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued the order Tuesday, blocking portions of the law from taking effect. The measure was one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. on social media use by children when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in 2024. The law would ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for their use by 14- and 15-year-olds. In his order granting the preliminary injunction sought by the groups Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, Walker wrote that the law is 'likely unconstitutional,' but acknowledged that parents and lawmakers have 'sincere concerns' about social media's effects on kids. Walker wrote that the prohibition on social media platforms from allowing certain age groups to create accounts 'directly burdens those youths' rights to engage in and access speech.' While siding with the industry groups' claims that the law limits free speech, Walker allowed a provision to go into effect requiring platforms to shut down accounts for children under 16, if their parent or guardian requests it. Parents — and even some teens themselves — are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Supporters of the Florida law have said it's needed to help curb the explosive use of social media among young people, and what researchers say is an associated increase in depression and anxiety. Matt Schruers, the president and CEO of the industry association CCIA, praised the judge's order blocking the law. 'This ruling vindicates our argument that Florida's statute violates the First Amendment by blocking and restricting minors — and likely adults as well — from using certain websites to view lawful content,' he said in a statement. 'We look forward to seeing this statute permanently blocked as a violation of Floridians' constitutional right to engage in lawful speech online.' A spokesperson for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier defended the law and the state's efforts to insulate kids from social media at a time when platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat seem almost impossible to escape. 'Florida parents voted through their elected representatives for a law protecting kids from the harmful and sometimes lifelong tragic impacts of social media. These platforms do not have a constitutional right to addict kids to their products,' Uthmeier's press secretary Jae Williams said in a statement. 'We disagree with the court's order and will immediately seek relief in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.