WhatsApp is now available in your web browser as long as you have Google Chrome

In November 2014, WhatsApp quietly unveiled an update to its mobile app that brought read receipts to the popular messaging service. Now, in a not so quiet fashion, the company has unveiled a long-requested feature.
And it has nothing to do with the mobile app. As announced by WhatsApp on Wednesday, the popular messaging service is now available as a web client, but only if you’re using Google Chrome. The web client, as WhatsApp puts it, is “an extension of your phone,” with the web-based version of the service mirroring conversations and individual messages that are present on the mobile app.
To access the web client, it’s all about going to a specific web address using Google Chrome, capture the QR Code presented there within the WhatsApp on your mobile device, and that will successfully link the web-based version to your mobile variant. Interestingly enough, WhatsApp also notes that the mobile phone needs to stay connected to the Internet for the web-based web client to keep working.

Of course, they also suggest having the latest version of WhatsApp installed on the phone, too. They also note that, “due to platform limitations,” the web client for WhatsApp will not be available for iOS users.

“To connect your web browser to your WhatsApp client, simply open https://web.whatsapp.com in your Google Chrome browser. You will see a QR code — scan the code inside of WhatsApp, and you’re ready to go. You have now paired WhatsApp on your phone with the WhatsApp web client. Your phone needs to stay connected to the internet for our web client to work, and please make sure to install the latest version of WhatsApp on your phone. Unfortunately for now, we will not be able to provide web client to our iOS users due to Apple platform limitations.“

What do you think of the way WhatsApp has implemented their web client? Better than nothing?
[via WhatsApp]