WHATSAPP has teased a huge update that would affect millions of devices.
The company has revealed plans to introduce the app on new devices.
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Right now, anyone with an iPad has to use WhatsApp Web.
But WhatsApp has hinted that an official WhatsApp app for iPad may be coming down the line.
Speaking to The Verge this week, WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart hinted at the project.
“We’d love to do it,” he said.
WhatsApp first launched 13 years ago, just over a year before the original Apple iPad.
A big part of the problem with WhatsApp on iPad is due to encryption.
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WhatsApp scrambles messages in transit.
Only the sending and receiving devices have the keys to unscramble the texts.
That means no one else can read the messages – not hackers, law enforcement, or WhatsApp parent company Facebook.
But adding additional devices without maintaining a connection to a smartphone has proved difficult.
However, WhatsApp recently resolved this for allowing multiple phones to use the app without the main device being online.
And this base system could be used to add WhatsApp to iPad as well.
“We did a lot of work on the technology for supporting multiple devices,” said Cathcart.
“Our web and our desktop apps now have that.
“If I have multi-device on, I can turn my phone off work lose my network connection and still get messages on my desktop.
“That would be really important for a tablet app, to be able to use the app even if your phone isn’t on.
“So the underlying technology is there.”
Sadly, Facebook hasn’t confirmed that the feature will definitely arrive.
And there’s still no time-frame, so iPad owners will simply have to sit tight for now.
It’s still possible to use WhatsApp Web in a browser on iPad, as long as your iPhone is online too.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
