Brand new WhatsApp app for Windows is a lot faster

March 26, 2023 Luisa Rey

If you use WhatsApp on your laptop or PC, you can now count on some very welcome improvements. They are in the brand new WhatsApp app for Windows.

New WhatsApp app for Windows

Today Meta introduces a brand new WhatsApp app for Windows. That app comes with three major improvements. First of all, this Windows app loads much faster. Secondly, the app has the familiar Windows interface that many people are familiar with. Finally, you can now have group video calls with up to 8 people and audio calls with up to 32 people on your desktop. Meta promises to further increase these limits over time.

The new WhatsApp app for Windows also offers end-to-end encryption. The messages are therefore not readable by third parties if they are intercepted. The app also comes with faster device connection via the multi-device function, i.e. the ability to use your WhatsApp account on multiple devices at the same time. In addition, there is better synchronization between devices and new features such as link previews and stickers have been added.

Download whatsapp for desktop

You have been able to use WhatsApp on your PC or laptop since 2015 via WhatsApp Web in the browser. In November of 2021, a beta version of WhatsApp for Windows was added, which is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app. This UWP app works on Windows PCs, tablets and Xbox consoles. The advantage of UWP is not only that WhatsApp works this way on all Microsoft platforms, but also that the app takes over the design of Windows. In addition, this UWP app also works with the multi-device feature. So you can use WhatsApp with multiple devices, including your Windows PC, without having to connect your phone to it.

In addition, there was another desktop app. That was actually a wrapper of WhatsApp Web. The only real advantage over WhatsApp Web was not having to keep your browser open. Other than that, this app was more or less identical. In 2022 there will be a native app for Windows. With this app you can send and receive messages from your PC or laptop, even when your phone is out of range. This app has now become a lot faster, among other things.

Meta indicates that there will also be a faster app for macOS and the company has also launched a WhatsApp Beta app for Android tablets.

New beta versions of WhatsApp for Android tablets and Mac desktops