Meta is known for offering many apps, but not many of them support the iPad. That is changing now, though, at least for one that makes messaging and voice calls across the globe a breeze.
That’s right – WhatsApp is now full-sized on the iPad as the most recent build that hit Apple’s App Store brings support for Apple’s tablet. It’s been a long time coming, and WhatsApp is even beating Instagram to the punch.
While the release notes for the latest build, 25.16.81, don’t mention anything special, this fresh piece of code does enable support for the iPad. Once you’ve updated, it’ll stretch and fill the screen appropriately on an entry-level iPad, the iPad mini, or both sizes of the iPad Pro or iPad Air.
You’ll be able to respond to messages, share your iPadOS screen on a call, and video chat with up to 32 other folks. WhatsApp even released a blog post detailing the anticipated arrival.
It’s still the classic messaging experience that WhatsApp has offered, but there is one key change from the iPhone version. WhatsApp now features a two-column layout, allowing you to view contacts’ names and group chats on the left and the messages for the selected chat on the right. So, it’s quite similar to how Apple’s own Messages app utilizes the larger screen real estate.
Perhaps even better news for iPad fans, the team at Meta has baked in support for multitasking on the iPad. This way, you can split the screen to have WhatsApp on one side or have it be the floating third app. That should make it easier to respond to messages and keep an eye on larger group chats.
The app also works with the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, allowing you to use the latter to scribble a message and send it within WhatsApp.
Now, a WhatsApp app for iPad has been rumored for quite some time, but the anticipation built up earlier this week when the app responded to a post on X (formerly Twitter) with a set of looking eyes. Less than a day later, the app is here, and it has us wondering what Meta might drop on the iPad next.
Arguably, Instagram is another app within Meta’s wheelhouse that iPad users want support for, so WhatsApp gaining support hopefully shows that it’s also in the works.
The WhatsApp team also promises that this is just the start of its journey on iPad, and is looking forward to feedback from users.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
