Instant social messaging app WhatsApp is making its way to smartwatches on Wear OS, providing ease of use from the wrist.
Thanks to recent speculation from independent WhatsApp update monitor WABetaInfo, the Meta-owned platform will see enhancements that make it easier to navigate, read and reply to messages from a Google-enabled smartwatch.
“In the latest update, some users noticed that the app was listed to be compatible with their smartwatch, in particular, with Wear OS. Wear OS is an Android operating system designed for smartwatches, and the latest update of WhatsApp beta for Android is finally compatible with it,” the blog said.
“Thanks to the smartwatch app, users can now stay connected and access their chats and messages directly from their smartwatch,” WABetaInfo reported.
“At the moment, the app includes features like chat messaging and voice messages.”
The speculation, however, does not point to any smartwatch being compatible with the new version of WhatsApp.
The smartwatch would have to be either supported by the WhatsApp update or feature native functionality that supports typing from it to respond to texts directly – whether WhatsApp, text or other messaging services.
Some smartwatches have such functionality enabled; despite this, the latest version of the update is available only to beta testers of the app until it becomes more widely rolled out.
“WhatsApp will prompt you when attempting to link your WhatsApp account to a Wear OS device,” WABetaInfo said.
“When linking the smartwatch app to your WhatsApp account, an 8-digit code will appear on the watch by prompting the user to enter the code on their device. After entering the code, your chats will safely be synced across your devices so you can start using WhatsApp on your smartwatch.”
The blog said messaging on the smartwatch app still preserved end-to-end encryption as that relied on multidevice capabilities.
“Making WhatsApp available on Wear OS is very significant as it expands the reach of the app beyond smartphones and tablets. With the increasing popularity of smartwatches, introducing compatibility with Wear OS is a very good move as users will finally be able to use WhatsApp in a more convenient way on their smartwatches,” WABetaInfo said.
* If any of the new features mentioned above are not yet available to you, this means it still has to be rolled out for your device. It should be visible to all users within the coming weeks after the latest update.
IOL Tech