It looks like WhatsApp users will finally get what many of us have been asking for, as beta testers got a glimpse of an iPadOS version of the instant messaging app. Hopefully this means we’ll have an iPad app version of WhatsApp very soon.
Screenshots of WABetaInfo show the app looks exactly like the one on your phone, just scaled for the iPad’s larger screen. It looks like you’d use the same QR scanning feature to connect your account to the app, and you’d have the same contact list on the left and your current conversation on the right as when using WhatsApp Web.
You have to wonder why it took so long for the iPadOS app to come to fruition, considering the popularity of WhatsApp and the fact that we already have Facebook Messenger and Instagram on the iPad.
The edge notes that Meta has never been keen on making iPad apps, especially apps that are optimized for iPads and not just quickly ported. Even the Instagram app on iPad is just a larger, barely usable version of Instagram for smartphones. We don’t have a Threads app for iPad yet, and if Meta is only coming to WhatsApp on iPadOS now, who knows when we might see Threads coming to our Apple tablets?
With WhatsApp being one of the most popular apps on the planet, the idea of an iPad app is pretty exciting and will definitely be a big hit for Meta if it passes the beta phase. Additionally, as Meta continues to push users to interact with WhatsApp Business and introduces WhatsApp Channels, it would be foolish not to offer its app on other devices.