I can’t believe setting up WhatsApp on a new phone is still so painful
Meta makes the best messaging apps the world has ever seen – there I said it. Social media surveillance and attention-destroying algorithms aside, the company formerly known as Facebook misses nothing when it comes to communicating with others.
The company’s portfolio includes the ever-reliable Facebook Messenger, the world-class DM system built into Instagram, and the world’s most popular messaging service, WhatsApp.
However, WhatsApp’s popularity doesn’t mean it’s the most advanced chat app Meta offers, and in one crucial way it lags far behind its platform-dependent cousins.
Two billion people use WhatsApp: presumably some of us own more than one phone, and yet almost all of us will upgrade to a new phone at some point in our lives and have to move from one phone to another.
Despite this, WhatsApp remains one of the most persistent and annoying apps to migrate between devices, and it gets even worse when I try to use it on two phones at the same time.
I recently started reviewing an exciting phone, one that made such a great first impression that I’ve decided to adopt it as my new daily driver: the OnePlus Open. Logging into WhatsApp was easy enough: it required a text message or a phone call to provide a login code. But moving all my posts was a different story.
WhatsApp has a wireless transfer function. You have to open a menu, keep the app open on the old phone, sign in on the new one, scan a QR code and wait while your texts and media slowly cross over.
There is also the option to backup your messages to Google Drive or iCloud, but this will require you to use some of your own data and storage space. As long as you don’t have too much media to back up, it won’t take up too much space, but with other messaging services you don’t have to worry about that.
The two-phone problem with WhatsApp
There must be an easier way to log into WhatsApp
Moreover, WhatsApp flatly refuses to work on two phones at the same time. The account system links users to their phone number, so two phones are considered two different accounts. I don’t see why this should be the case.
I use the WhatsApp app on my MacBook and phone at the same time without any problems. Why can’t the same apply to two phones? This makes me resort to using the WhatsApp website to check my messages on a second phone, which feels unnecessarily inconvenient.
Part of WhatsApp’s inflexibility may have to do with its focus on security. It has long been marketed as a secure choice for communications because messages are encrypted end-to-end. Making it difficult to access an account isn’t always a bad thing.
That said, mobile security is the most advanced it’s ever been: we have Face ID, fingerprint scanners, access keys, encryption. There has to be an easier way to log into WhatsApp that still respects its long legacy of security and privacy.
There’s no way I’ll just stop using WhatsApp. It is a globally essential tool for both my social life and my work. Updates are being rolled out consistently, but it feels like Meta hasn’t improved WhatsApp for the average user. I hope a better account system becomes a priority soon.