WhatsApp is out now on Apple Watch, a decade after the bestselling smartwatch first arrived on store shelves.
While it's always been possible to view incoming WhatsApp messages on an Apple Watch, other media — photos, videos, and documents — weren't available to preview on-screen. Likewise, it has always been possible to reply using auto-replies on an Apple Watch, but there was no way to send a voice memo, for example.
Compared with other messaging services, like Apple's own iMessage, options were pretty limited.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging service on the planet, boasting over 3 billion monthly active users. It's owned by parent company Meta, which also owns and operates Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. The latter did have a standalone Apple Watch app, but it was discontinued back in May 2023.
With WhatsApp on Apple Watch, you'll be able to react to messages with emoji, see high-resolution photos and videos, and send voice memos from your wrist
|META PRESS OFFICE
If you already have WhatsApp installed on your iPhone, the easiest way to add the new Watch app to your wrist is to launch the Watch app on your smartphone. Scroll down the main feed, found under the My Watch tab, and it should appear listed under the Available Apps header. Tap on the Install button and that's it.
Opening WhatsApp on your Apple Watch will offer an updated view of your ongoing conversations and group chats. You can tap to launch the WhatsApp chat and reply or react to messages, photos, and videos.
There's no way to kickstart a new conversation from the main menu on WhatsApp for Apple Watch, it's primarily used to continue ongoing chats. It's possible that we'll see new functionality added to the app over time.
But the secret sauce of the arrival of WhatsApp on Apple Watch is the boost to notifications. For the first time, WhatsApp users will receive call notifications to see who’s calling without the need to look at your iPhone.
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You will also be able to read entire WhatsApp messages on Apple Watch — even long messages are visible directly from your wrist with a scroll of the Digital Crown. Without the standalone app, the notification preview of text messages cuts off at a certain word count.
You can now record and send voice messages from your wrist, handy if you don't want to pull your iPhone from your pocket, but need to quickly respond. Like iMessage built by Apple, you can now send quick emoji reactions to messages, documents, photos, and videos that you receive with a long-press.
And finally, photographs now appear in crystal-clear detail on your Apple Watch.
According to a blog post about the new arrival, the team at WhatsApp states: "This is just the start of making WhatsApp on your Apple Watch an even better experience.
"As always, your personal messages and calls remain private with end-to-end encryption. We look forward to delivering even more useful functionality for people with Apple Watch in the future."
It's been a bumper few weeks for WhatsApp users who own Apple devices, as parent company Meta has launched a series of updates for these popular devices.
The team at Meta has worked hard to ensure several iPad features are supported, including the ability to run multiple apps side-by-side for PC-like multi-tasking on the tablet | META PRESS OFFICE After years of rumours, WhatsApp finally launched a dedicated iPad app, so tablet owners can reply to messages and make video calls without their smartphone nearby. WhatsApp was already accessible from any web browser, but this new standalone app means the iPad lineup boasts the same level of support as Apple's laptop and desktop PCs, which have a dedicated version of WhatsApp for Mac in the App Store.
As if that wasn't enough, WhatsApp quickly followed up with support for a feature that's been built into every iPhone for the last 10 years. Next up, leaked images suggest a top-to-bottom redesign to support Apple's new Liquid Glass design language is in the works.
Not a fan of Liquid Glass? Apple now lets you reduce the divisive transparent effect across its operating system.
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