WhatsApp has grown to over 2 billion users, which is an impressive figure by far. However, the platform has been missing some features for a while now that they now seem interested in addressing.
For one, the service has been restricted to one device only for a long time. This means that you cannot have the same WhatsApp account on a phone and tablet at the same time, or multiple phones. This is not impressive in an age where other IM apps like iMessage will allow you switch seamlessly between the iPhone, iPad and even Macbooks they have on offer.
To combat that, the company is now working on an update that will see the app work in multiple devices.
To forestall issues of privacy and security, there will most likely be a feature that alerts users when a new device is logging into their WhatsApp. This will most likely be like how your email notifies you of unusual activity from your primary device.
Likewise, WhatsApp has mentioned wanting to explore the option of expiring messages too. Even though they have rolled out this feature in the past for group chats, they will now bring it to individual chats.
Knowing WhatsApp and their beta tests, though, now might not be a good time to jubilate. The company might just decide to ditch the project after the first beta test – but we hope they don’t go down that path.