An Apple Watch shows the WhatsApp app
This week, Meta announced an Apple Watch app for WhatsApp – one of the most popular messaging platforms on the planet. Come to think of it, given that fact, it's pretty wild that Meta has not developed a version of WhatsApp for the Apple Watch before now. Users can download the app from the Apple Watch App Store. You must have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer and be running Watch OS 10 or above.
Depending on your watch settings, you may already have it installed, or get it soon. The Apple Watch can automatically install new apps on your device if you already have them on your phone. WhatsApp didn't auto-install on my watch, but I also went looking for it shortly after it was released. By the time you read this, it may already be there.
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The official WhatsApp watch app (say that five times really fast) gives you the full experience on your watch. Once you have updated to the latest version of WhatsApp on your iPhone, you'll find the option to load WhatsApp on your Apple Watch. You can scroll through your various chats and read entire chat histories in the app. I was able to see messages that I sent back in 2024. Bear in mind, I don't use WhatsApp very often, so when I say "2024," I mean like 25 messages back or so.
Regardless, you get the whole kit n' kaboodle, including call notifications, voice messages, reactions, and more. But there are limits. I ran across a couple of pieces of media – animated GIFs – that WhatsApp indicated were "unsupported," and I had to view them on my phone, instead.
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Overall, though, this app seems incredibly overdue, but nice to finally have. Personally, I'm a big fan of app support on the Apple Watch, which typically offers more than its Android Wear OS smartwatch equivalents – if Wear OS equivalents are even available. App support on Android's watch platform isn't nearly as robust as it is for watchOS, but that's probably the topic for another article. Whatever the case, this is a win for Apple Watch-wearing WhatsApp users.
[Image credit: Suzanne Kantra/Techlicious]
