WhatsApp Launches Its Official App on Apple Watches with Advanced Features to Stay Connected
WhatsApp officially announced the launch of its companion app for Apple Watches, following a long wait by users around the world. The announcement came via a post on the app's official blog, in a move aimed at enabling users to follow their conversations more easily without needing their phone.
WhatsApp stated in its announcement: "This new experience will help you keep track of your conversations without having to pull your phone out of your pocket. In addition to reading and replying to messages, WhatsApp on the Apple Watch will now support many features that users have long awaited."
Among the most notable features offered by the new app are receiving call notifications, reading full messages, and sending text and voice replies directly from the watch. It also supports interacting with messages using emojis, and displaying the chat history in a broader way, with improved image and sticker display quality on the small watch screen.
WhatsApp confirmed that all messages and calls remain protected with end-to-end encryption, with a commitment to launch more features and updates for the app in the future.
To run the app, the Apple Watch must be a Series 4 or newer, and it must operate on watchOS 10 or later. The launch was not surprising, as WhatsApp was spotted testing the app in advance last week.
This launch is part of WhatsApp's expansion strategy to provide its services on multiple platforms beyond phones and computers. The app had launched a dedicated version for the iPad last May, providing a more integrated experience for tablet users.
It is worth mentioning that WhatsApp has now entered direct competition with other messaging apps like Snapchat, which launched its app on Apple Watches a few months ago, as WhatsApp seeks to provide a comprehensive experience focused on interacting with conversations and reading messages directly from the watch.
