It wasn’t long ago that Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp finally brought along multi-device access to a single account, though even now, it’s only still available to some of the millions of active users who would want to take advantage of this feature. Now, we’re hearing word that the app could flip the script and is working on multi-account access on a single device.
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With the help of a tester for the WhatsApp Business client for Android, WABetaInfo is reporting that the version 2.23.13.5 beta features a hidden new interface that permits users to switch between accounts on the same device.
Via: WABetaInfo”” data-modal-id=”single-image-modal” data-modal-container-id=”single-image-modal-container” data-img-caption=”null”>
Via: WABetaInfo
Enterprise users of WhatsApp may well have multiple accounts that they need to manage in the course of their business, so an account switcher for WhatsApp Business totally makes sense. Then again, with an estimated active user base of two billion people, there’s bound to be a good number of average folks that would want and even need to have the very same feature – dual-SIM subscribers are the most obvious example.
WABetaInfo claims there’s a lack of any clear language that would suggest this feature would remain exclusive to WhatsApp Business, which is a separate app to WhatsApp Messenger. That said, we should probably keep our fingers crossed. The account switching paradigm is still under development and, as such, is subject to change in nature. Down the line, however, the feature is expected to become visible in both WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Messenger betas at some point before being refined and rolled out to the stable version.
If you’re interested in tinkering around with the app beta in question right now, you can sideload the APK from APK Mirror.
Also: WhatsApp Web and Desktop: How do you use them?
Some Android brands offer a feature that duplicates instances of an application on users’ phones for the exact purpose of maintaining multiple accounts on a single device where an app may prohibit it – one such example is Samsung’s Dual Messenger feature. Ideally, though, it’s more efficient for the user in terms of local space and resources to have app publishers themselves handle account switching on their end.