WhatsApp is working on a SECRET companion mode

WhatsApp will soon offer a 'companion mode' which will allow more than one smartphone or other device to log in to one account, a leak has claimed.

This will allow users to access their chats, send messages and make calls simultaneously from different devices. 

A savvy user spotted the feature in an as-of-yet unreleased WhatsApp update that is currently being tested through the Google Play Beta Program. 

This is a subscription service that gives Android users exclusive access to new versions of apps available on the Google Play store.

Screenshots shared on the WABetaInfo website reveal that WhatsApp users will be able to link the secondary device by scanning a QR code.

 

WhatsApp will soon offer a 'companion mode' which will allow more than one smartphone or other device to log in to one account, a leak has claimed. 

First, the user needs to download and open WhatsApp on the secondary device, then tap the overflow menu, which shows three dots, on the registration screen.

Then they can tap 'Link a device', and a unique QR code will be displayed.

Finally, they can open WhatsApp on their primary device, tap 'Settings' and 'Linked devices', and they will be able to scan the QR code on the secondary device.

This will initiate the transfer of chat histories and other data.

From then on, any messages sent or calls made to that WhatsApp account will be received by both the primary and secondary device. 

It gives users the option of accessing their chats from another device if the primary one does not have an active internet connection. 

Users may also be able to update their status and manage their 'broadcast lists' - saved lists of broadcast message recipients - from the secondary device.

The leak says that you will be able to link up to four devices to one account.

The first device a WhatsApp account is signed into with will remain the primary device, and will be needed to add a new companion device.

Users will only be able to change the phone number associated with their account from the primary device.

The feature is available in WhatsApp version 2.23.8.2, currently undergoing beta testing, but its existence indicates it will be rolled out on the Android app soon.

This unreleased update also allows the user to lock their private chats so they can be accessed only with biometric data, such as a fingerprint, or a passcode. 

Testers are currently only able to make an Android device their secondary one, as the unreleased update can only be downloaded through the Google Play Beta Program. 

The leak adds that any messages or calls that have been sent or received through the companion device will be end-to-end encrypted. 

The news comes just a month after the head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, said he would rather the app be banned in the UK than remove end-to-end encryption.

The government may soon outlaw this security feature, which scrambles the content of messages to protect them from hackers, through the Online Safety Bill.

This legislation could require tech companies to scan the contents of messages sent through their social platforms for illegal content.

However, doing so would likely force them to weaken or do away with their own security measures.

WhatsApp cannot see messages sent via its own service, and so cannot comply with law enforcement requests to either hand them over for anti-terror purposes or to identify and remove child-abuse material, for example. 

Mr Cathcart said that undermining the privacy of WhatsApp messages in the UK would do so for all its users worldwide.

'There isn't a way to change it in just one part of the world,' he said.

'Some countries have chosen to block it: that's the reality of shipping a secure product. 

'We've recently been blocked in Iran, for example. But we've never seen a liberal democracy do that.'

He added: 'The reality is, our users all around the world want security.

'Ninety-eight per cent of our users are outside the UK. They do not want us to lower the security of the product, and just as a straightforward matter, it would be an odd choice for us to choose to lower the security of the product in a way that would affect those 98 per cent of users.'

Mr Cathcart was critical of the Online Safety Bill in September, saying that it was 'puzzling' that governments wanted to weaken security, not bolster it.

The UK Government insisted that the Bill 'does not represent a ban on end-to-end encryption' and that 'we can and must have both' privacy and child safety.

But it also does not explicitly state how it would be possible to monitor message content and continue their encryption, creating a 'grey area'.

Clever WhatsApp trick lets you see which GROUPS you have in common with someone 

Whether it's an ex-partner or an irritating colleague, there are often times you'd like to know which groups you have in common with someone on WhatsApp. 

Now the days of scrolling through old chats is a thing of the past, thanks to a clever new feature. 

Users are now able to search a contact's name and see the groups they have in common with them. 

'Whether you're trying to remember the name of a group you know you share with someone or you want to see the groups you're both in, you can now easily search a contact's name to see your groups in common,' WhatsApp explained.–Daily Mail