A tweet disseminated by WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) reveals that WhatsApp might soon release a version of the messaging app for the iPad. Back in June, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Head of WhatsApp Will Cathcart mentioned a possible iPad app for the platform in a group chat made on WhatsApp. The multi-device feature allows a user to link to as many as four companion devices at one time along with one phone.
WhatsApp for iPad is on the way!
In multi-device 2.0, which will be included in an upcoming software update, the Apple iPad will be considered a linked device that will support the app according to WABetaInfo. The latter also adds that with WhatsApp for Android, multi-device will support Android tablets. With multi-device 2.0, each linked connection is independent which means that if the linked phone is not present or the battery dies, the linked connections will continue to work.
• Is WhatsApp for iPad a web app? No, it’s a native app!
• Will WhatsApp for iPad work independently? Yes.
• Is WhatsApp for iPad already available? No.
• WhatsApp beta for iPad? If you have WhatsApp beta for iOS, you will automatically have the iPad version in the future. https://t.co/aQYBBtW7Sb— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) August 21, 2021
And as you can see from the tweet above, WhatsApp for iPad is incoming. It’s a native app that those with the WhatsApp beta for iOS will automatically have in the future. Back in 2019, a tipster said that WhatsApp finished developing an app for the iPad, but was holding back the release to finish the multi-device feature first.
Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014; the deal was valued at over $21 billion when it closed in October of that year. Considering that WhatsApp has a current value of $1.5 billion based on one estimate, you probably wouldn’t consider the deal nearly as successful as Facebook’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram which is now believed to be worth $100 billion. Still, the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook could end up as successful as its Instagram deal.
WhatsApp’s game plan with WhatsApp has always been to grow the app now and monetize it later. And has WhatsApp grown! In 2014 it was adding 1 million new users a day and these subscribers were sending 500 million photos a day, 150 million more daily than Facebook users. And at the time, 70% of WhatsApp users were using the app daily compared to only 62% of Facebook users.
In developing markets where WhatsApp is used often because of the lack of widespread internet connectivity, the app helps Facebook grow. And eventually, Zuckerberg believes that WhatsApp will be making money hands over fist as phone calls are replaced by messaging on mobile devices. Still, there are many who believe that Facebook seriously overpaid for WhatsApp especially since there are no ads on the platform.
Reports indicate that Zuckerberg was able to wrest WhatsApp out of the grasp of Google. Supposedly, Google was willing to pay no more than half the amount that Facebook paid. Originally, WhatsApp charged users $1 per year to use the app as founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton were against online advertising. Eventually, WhatsApp stopped collecting the $1 which might have helped bring in a couple of billion in revenue last year.
Zuckerberg still expects Facebook to monetize WhatsApp
In case you were wondering, WhatsApp subscribers send 100 billion messages every day and two billion users interact with the messaging app each month. And the growth continues. App specialists Sensor Tower say that WhatsApp was downloaded 13 million times in April of this year. That represents an 18.2% increase on a sequential basis.
WhatsApp is more popular among iOS users than Android users and is available in over 180 countries on the planet. It is banned in China, Cuba, Syria, Iran, the UAE, North Korea, and Qatar. However, in some of those countries only voice and video calls are not allowed and users can still send text messages.
And now, iPad users are getting closer to using the messaging app with their tablets not only via multi-device, but also through a WhatsApp for iPad app.