WhatsApp's iPad app is finally on the way: Details here
What's the story
Despite hosting over a billion active users, WhatsApp hasn't captured a particular segment of the market yet- iPad owners.
Yes, in the last 10 year of its existence, the Facebook-owned service hasn't pushed a native app for iPad.
This has certainly annoyed many users, but the good news is, we have finally spotted the app in development.
Here's what it looks like.
Beta references
WhatsApp for iPad spotted in beta
Just recently, WhatsApp released iOS beta v2.19.40 giving famous tipster WABetaInfo an opportunity to delve into its code.
Overall, the update focuses on general stability and minor fixes, but the tipster spotted a bunch of references detailing the iPad version of the app.
It features the same capabilities that we see on the main iPhone but with a slightly different look.
UI
WhatsApp for iPad will utilize extra screen real estate
The interface of WhatsApp for iPad has been tweaked to match the larger display of the device, just like Facebook Messenger.
Plus, the chat, call, and settings section of the app have been given a split screen view which allows the user to manage multiple options, chats from the same screen.
So, no more going in and returning to the main screen.
Information
You can manage chats more easily
The split screen feature would come very handy for messaging because you will be able to chat with one friend while keeping an eye on the message from another at the same time.
Other elements
Everything else looks pretty much the same
Apart from the split screen interface which works both in portrait and landscape mode, everything else on the iPad version looks similar to the iPhone app.
There's a status tab where you'd be seeing updates along with the regular features like Touch ID, Face ID authentication, and voice calling.
To note, the status tab doesn't show in split screen, something that might change later.
Availability
No word on availability
Having said that, it is important to note that the app is still in development stage and there is no word on when it might actually hit the Apple App Store.
However, given the current status of the app, we expect that WhatsApp will roll it out in the upcoming TestFlight program beta updates.
Once that's done, we can expect a stable release.
Information
WhatsApp has been building some very useful capabilities
The development of WhatsApp's iPad version comes just as the service continues to upgrade itself. Just recently, the platform had launched a feature for blocking addition into random groups. Plus, the latest Android beta also brings support for sending 30 audio files at once.