{"id":406232,"date":"2021-07-15T16:48:08","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T14:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=406232"},"modified":"2021-07-15T16:51:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T14:51:15","slug":"new-whatsapp-multi-device-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/software\/406232-new-whatsapp-multi-device-support.html","title":{"rendered":"New WhatsApp multi-device support"},"content":{"rendered":"

WhatsApp is rolling out a limited public beta of its app that includes improved multi-device capability.<\/p>\n

This will allow the app to be used on other devices without an actively connected smartphone.<\/p>\n

As it stands, WhatsApp offers web, macOS, Windows, and Portal apps, but these have to be connected to a smartphone with the app that is connected to the Internet.<\/p>\n

The phone acts as the primary device or\u00a0 “source of truth” for all user data and is the only device in the system capable of encrypting messages end-to-end, initiating calls, and more.<\/p>\n

“Companion devices maintain a persistent secure connection with the phone and simply mirror its contents on their own UI,” WhatsApp explains.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp acknowledged that while this architecture made it easy to deliver a synchronised experience between a phone and companion device without compromising security, it comes with significant reliability trade-offs.<\/p>\n

“By requiring the phone to perform all operations, companion devices are slower and frequently get disconnected \u2014 especially when the phone has a poor connection, its battery is running low, or the application process gets killed by the phone\u2019s OS,” the company stated.<\/p>\n

“It also allows for only a single companion device to be operative at a time, meaning people can\u2019t be on a call in Portal while checking their messages on their PC, for example.”<\/p>\n

The image below illustrates what the current multi-device architecture looks like in the latest official version of the app.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The new WhatsApp multi-device architecture removes the need for the smartphone app to act as the central hub to use the service.<\/p>\n

“With this new capability, you can now use WhatsApp on your phone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously \u2014 even if your phone battery is dead,” WhatsApp said.<\/p>\n

“Each companion device will connect to your WhatsApp independently while maintaining the same level of privacy and security through end-to-end encryption.”<\/p>\n

Any easy way to achieve multi-device support while syncing data like contact names, chat archives and starred messages across devices would have been to store people’s private messages on its servers.<\/p>\n

However, WhatsApp said it wanted to enable multi-device capability while ensuring that privacy and end-to-end encryption remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo achieve this, we had to rethink WhatsApp\u2019s architecture and design new systems to enable a standalone multi-device experience while preserving privacy and end-to-end encryption,\u201d WhatsApp said.<\/p>\n

Before the multi-device support, everyone on WhatsApp was identified by a single identity key from which all encrypted communication keys were derived. With multi-device, each device now has its own identity key.<\/p>\n

“The WhatsApp server maintains a mapping between each person\u2019s account and all their device identities. When someone wants to send a message, they get their device list keys from the server,” the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach message is individually encrypted using the established pairwise encryption session with each device. Messages are not stored on the server after they are delivered,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

The image below shows how the new architecture functions.<\/p>\n

\"\"WhatsApp said it is also using a combination of technologies to prevent malicious or compromised servers from eavesdropping on someone’s communication by adding devices to someone’s account.<\/p>\n

This includes:<\/p>\n