WhatsApp will support multiple devices soon, but only one phone at a time

Since the furore around changes in the data-sharing arrangement with Facebook, WhatsApp has been scrambling to maintain its market. As part of this, the company has been adding features (often that other platforms already have) to the app and even trying to cast shade over others.

The latest addition to the platform that is — seemingly close — coming to the app, is multiple device connections. While this is great in theory, it will only support a single mobile device at a time. This is undoubtedly related to the fact that the app is linked to a mobile number. This does, however, with the four device limit suggest we may see tablet, PC and laptop apps.

A post on WhatsApp Beta Info outlines the major changes we’ll see with multiple device capability including:

• Linked devices can work without an active Internet connection on the main device. We will discover which devices are supported below.
• You can link up to 4 devices to your WhatsApp account.
• WhatsApp will allow the chat history migration between iOS and Android. WhatsApp always requires to update the app before starting the migration.
• Multi-device will be released as beta feature to people that want to try it, and it will be initially optional.
• Voice and video calls work across linked devices.
• You cannot message or call people that have an outdated WhatsApp version installed.

For regular users, these are going to make a lot of people happy. If you have or are in the process of moving away from WhatsApp, the question is: Will it be enough to entice you to return, or stay with the platform?