Remember when texting someone required a huge bill to pay? We couldn’t even send in group messages, interact with teams to discuss some important updates, or chit-chat with a group of friends from different countries together.
Over-the-top messaging apps, like WhatsApp, came in to solve the problem since they allowed us to send texts while using our internet connection.
It has now been acquired by Meta (previously Facebook), which improved the security and added some interesting features.
The future of WhatsApp Web is beginning to shine because of its strong technological base and a sizable built-in audience.
Let’s take a look at some more details below.
Introducing WhatsApp web
WhatsApp web was first launched on January 21, 2015, allowing you to access WhatsApp through a web browser on your computer or laptop.
This means you can view and send your messages through a computer using WhatsApp web. Because it is easier to type using a desktop keyboard than on a phone keyboard (at least for me, with far fewer typos), more people are using WhatsApp Web.
You may use WhatsApp Web with the latest web browsers, while WhatsApp is linked to your mobile number on the WhatsApp web browser. This means you do not need to register or log in.
WhatsApp web scan
All you have to do is simply scan a QR code on the laptop through your mobile device and the window will open your personal WhatsApp on the web. By syncing your contacts and messages, it mirrors WhatsApp, ensuring that whatever you do on WhatsApp Web also shows up on your phone and vice versa.
Features of WhatsApp web
Here, we will talk about some of the features that WhatsApp Web offers (not the normal WhatsApp that you use on your phone.
- One-on-one text and voice messages
- Ability to start a community
- Use WhatsApp web with 4 linked devices and 1 phone at the same time
- Send and receive messages without keeping your phone online
- See status updates of contacts
- Ability to start a new group chat
- Archive unimportant or star important messages
- Customize notifications, privacy, and chat wallpaper
- Set dark or light mode
Pros of using WhatsApp web
One of the biggest advantages of using WhatsApp web is being able to use a larger keyboard and display for chats.
If you’re always on WhatsApp—for example, take customer complaints, orders, or other queries on WhatsApp—then you might prefer typing fast; which can be challenging on a touchscreen keyboard.
Another advantage is that you can download or send any important multimedia file that you may want to work on your laptop or computer. It makes sharing PDF documents and other media easy. This is a useful advantage for freelancers or graphic designers who are constantly exchanging multimedia files.
Let’s suppose your phone is on charge in another room and you’re working on your laptop in another. At this time, if you are constantly hearing WhatsApp beep—you can easily access it through your laptop by opening WhatsApp web (I personally face this a lot).
You can also use WhatsApp web on every browser—it works like magic on every single browser. Besides this, there is no need to download the app or any other add-on for WhatsApp web to work.
And of course, we leave the best for the last. WhatsApp web is completely free to use. There are absolutely no hidden or apparent costs for using it.
Cons of using WhatsApp web
One of the biggest cons is that you need to keep your phone connected to the internet while using WhatsApp web.
A lot of people may find this difficult because at times when your phone is not accessible, you may want WhatsApp web to be working fine. Well, they may launch something to solve this in near future, who knows?
Another notable downside is the user’s inability to update their account’s profile picture or status.
And lastly, you cannot make voice and video call through WhatsApp web.
Can we trust WhatsApp web?
Any secure messaging software is built on trust, and WhatsApp goes above and beyond to gain your trust.
It is based on the tried-and-tested Signal Protocol, which enables end-to-end encryption (E2EE) of messages from beginning to finish.
This means that any team communication sent using this service can only be read by the sender and the intended recipient.
Even WhatsApp employees (and, by extension, Meta) are unable to see your messages. E2EE is just an option and available in certain situations in other messengers, such as Facebook Messenger, however, it is available by default on WhatsApp.
Using WhatsApp Web for businesses
WhatsApp web is useful (and not so useful as well) for many businesses around the world.
Let’s first discuss how it can be useful.
Businesses, especially customer service departments, are able to have real-time conversations with their customers using WhatsApp web.
They can also use it for advertising their goods and services while instantly responding to customer inquiries.
On WhatsApp web, users may create business profiles that provide useful details for clients including physical addresses, company descriptions, websites, menus, products, and more.
Businesses can use rapid replies to quickly respond to customers and digital labels to categorize contacts and conversations.
As discussed above, WhatsApp web is completely free and used by literally everyone (well, almost). So communicating on WhatsApp would mean that you do not have to worry about the other person using the app or not.
Also, end-to-end encryption is provided by WhatsApp to protect conversations, voice messages, photos, audio/video calls, and more.
However, one of the downsides is that companies can only use WhatsApp for real-time conversations. Businesses cannot complete other essential tasks with it, like other business communication or collaboration apps.
Let’s suppose a business wants to communicate and also be able to use a kanban board to view their pending or completed tasks.
WhatsApp doesn’t fulfill other business collaboration needs. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that most businesses need to use organizational tools to fulfill all the other internal or external business needs.
A great alternative for businesses
Chanty is a great alternative to WhatsApp Web because it’s an all-in-one option for professional communication.
Chanty suffices all the drawbacks of WhatsApp that a business requires. From an authentic team chat app to a user-friendly interface, an efficient Kanban board for optimizing your workflow, and a team book to stay connected with everything at all times.
That’s not it, you can also make good use of multiple integrations, so you don’t have to switch between different apps.
The unlimited searchable message history, one-on-one audio and video calls, voice messages; guest users, multi-conversation guests, screen-sharing, group calls, file storage, and data import capabilities make it a very suitable option for business collaborations.
Most importantly, Chanty helps boost productivity by 55% and teamwork for teams of all sizes.
Is WhatsApp Web great for you?
As we’ve already mentioned, WhatsApp Web has been available for a while, and for the most fundamental tasks like messaging and file sharing, it works perfectly on laptops and PCs.
It would be a great fit for those only looking for real-time communication and not for added features such as a Kanban board, multiple integrations, customizing permissions and roles, thread-based discussions, or more collaborative features.
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