WhatsApp is an incredibly popular app for the iPhone, connecting over one billion active members around the world every day. It lets you send messages to your friends (or groups of friends) over Wi-Fi or 4G and make savings on your phone bill. Of course, you may still end up paying for data if you go over your limit, so don’t go crazy!
The sad thing is that the app is only available for iPhone. There isn’t a version for the iPad or iPod touch.
But don’t despair. In this tutorial, we show you how to use WhatsApp on the iPad (or iPod touch) using WhatsApp Web. In essence this service connects to the WhatsApp account on your iPhone or Android and forwards the messages on to your iPad, allowing you to send and receive messages, pictures and videos. It’s not native WhatsApp on the iPad, but it’s the next best thing.
How to use WhatsApp on an iPad
We’ll access the WhatsApp service on iPad using Safari.
Step 1) Open Safari on your iPad and head to web.whatsapp.com. If you’re on iPadOS 13 or later, this will load the correct desktop version of WhatsApp Web automatically, and you can skip to step 3. But those still running iOS 12 will notice that it takes them instead to the WhatsApp home page. No good!
Step 2) To solve this, those on iOS 12 and earlier should tap and hold the refresh button to the right of the website address. After a second or two, you’ll see an option that says ‘Load desktop site’. Tap this.
Step 3) You’ll now see the familiar WhatsApp Web interface displaying the QR code to pair with your iPhone. Using your iPhone, head to Settings > WhatsApp Web and scan the QR code to pair the two devices.
Step 4) Success! The page should reload and display all your recent messages along with any media or voice notes sent to you.
It’s worth noting that there are a few limitations when using this workaround. Most importantly, unlike when the service is used on a Mac or PC, notifications from web browsers aren’t supported on iOS/iPadOS so you won’t receive notifications of incoming messages.
Apart from that and a few small bugs, however, the service is pretty easy to use and a great alternative for most WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp Web
WhatsApp Web is a free and easy way to access the WhatsApp service on your iPad. Although you won’t get notifications (as you would when using the service on Mac or PC), it’s a great way of easily accessing your messages on tablet.
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Via MACWORLD