WhatsApp Companion Mode is now available to all Android beta testers. It’s a much-awaited feature that lets users connect a secondary mobile phone to their existing WhatsApp account. With this, users don’t need an active internet connection on the primary device to use WhatsApp on the second phone.
Notably, Companion Mode was rolled out to a limited pool of Android beta testers in November 2022, which let them connect a tablet to their WhatsApp account. Now, according to WAbetaInfo, the feature is available to all WhatsApp Beta users on Android and supports smartphones as well. Here’s all you need to know.
All WhatsApp Android Beta Users Can Now Use Companion Mode
In November 2022, WhatsApp rolled out its much-anticipated Companion Mode for limited WhatsApp Beta users on Android. The feature is finally rolling out to all WhatsApp Beta users on Android now. Notably, the feature lets users connect to an Android tablet in the past, now it supports Android smartphones as well. It’s not yet available to iOS users, but if the secondary device is Android, users can connect it to their primary WhatsApp account on an iPhone.
The new feature is available to all Android Beta testers on the latest beta update version number 2.23.8.2 and newer versions of the app. According to WhatsApp, the latest beta update is available to all users now, but it might take up to 24 hours post-installation for the feature to appear on their WhatsApp. It’s available for both regular and WhatsApp Business users.
As mentioned before, the feature is only available to Android beta users. But iOS users can connect an Android device as a companion device too. It won’t work if you add an iOS device in companion mode. Here are the steps to add a companion device to your WhatsApp account.
- Download the latest WhatsApp Beta version 2.23.8.2, on your secondary Android device from Play Store.
- Open WhatsApp Beta after installation.
- When the app asks for the phone number on the registration screen, click on the three-dot icon on the top.
- Tap on “Link a device” in the pop-up menu.
- Now, open WhatsApp on your primary device, click Settings, and then Linked Devices.
- Now, scan the QR code shown on the secondary device with your primary device to add a companion phone.
Once you have done this, all your chats, groups, and contacts will be synced to your secondary device, as shown in the image on the top. Moreover, the companion mode allows up to four devices at once. You can add three more devices to your primary WhatsApp account phone. All your chats and calls will be end-to-end encrypted on all comapnion devices.
