The new app has been in testing since last year.
Key Takeaways
- WhatsApp’s native app for macOS is now available on the Mac App Store, offering a more responsive and power-efficient experience than the previous web-based version.
- The new app has a redesigned UI, supports group video calls with up to 8 people, and allows users to share files by dragging and dropping them into chats.
- While iPad users still have to wait for a native app, WhatsApp is currently beta testing an optimized UI for large-screen devices, indicating a future release for iPads.
The stable version of the native WhatsApp app for macOS is now available on the Mac App Store. The app was released in beta last January before Meta made it available for download from the official WhatsApp website in August. It is worth noting that the Mac App Store did offer a WhatsApp client even before today, but it was a web-based app unlike the new, native application.
The new app is optimized for Apple silicon Macs, and differs somewhat in UI and features from the earlier web-based application. WhatsApp claims that the native app is more responsive than the web app and offers better power efficiency. It also comes with a redesigned UI that makes it easier to use. Apart from that, it retains many of the same features as the earlier web-based client, including the ability to be used without connecting to the WhatsApp client on an iPhone. Just like the mobile apps on iPhone and Android, it can also notify users of incoming calls and messages even when it’s closed.
One of the notable features of the native WhatsApp client on Mac is its support for group video calls with up to 8 people and audio calls with up to 32 people. Users can also share files with their contacts by dragging and dropping them into chats. Other features include the ability to pin and archive chats, as well as search for unread messages, etc. Mac users can download the new app directly from the Mac App Store.
Following the launch of the new Mac client, the clamor for a native iPad app is only likely to increase. Thankfully for iPad users, the company is currently beta testing a new iPad app with an optimized UI for large-screen devices, but there’s no definitive word on when it will be released for the public.
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