WhatsApp, the popular mobile messaging app owned by Facebook, has finally released its long-awaited desktop client called WhatsApp Web, so people can keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues via text message on their computers. It’s about time; other social networking sites have been doing this for years! But does WhatsApp have what it takes to beat the competition, or will it get lost in the crowd? Will WhatsApp for Mac Be Better Than All Other Messaging Apps?
The new app will be more intuitive than other platforms
Unlike on mobile, where it’s easy to send GIFs and stickers, users will be able to directly respond to messages. For example, you can answer Yes with an emoji, or use a sticker pack to show you’re in a meeting. Stickers are only available on Android right now—it would be odd if they weren’t in the new app too.
It will require less effort than text-based messaging
What makes texting so convenient is that it takes almost no effort. Rather than open up your laptop and type an email, you simply tap out a few letters on your phone. While this is great in theory, in practice it means that we don’t really think about what we say when using text messaging.
There will be emoji and stickers
You can add a sticker to your message, and you can even replace one or two of your written words with a sticker. The app has some emoji built-in, and there are also other popular stickers from third-party apps like Facebook Messenger. You’ll be able to add these emoji by using keyboard shortcuts. Also, when you receive a message with lots of stickers, you’ll see an emoji page that lets you jump right into each one.
The app will keep conversations intact
Keeping chats in-sync across devices is one of our biggest qualms with other messaging apps. For example, if we start a conversation on our phone, it’s frustrating that we can’t pick up where we left off on another device. Well, according to TechCrunch and The Verge, that problem is one of several WhatsApp hopes to solve with its app—an Android beta of which launched last month.
Users can read messages without unlocking the phone
This feature is available in all mobile versions of WhatsApp, and it allows users to read messages even when their phone is locked. Most people use a password lock on their phone so that it’s not vulnerable to attacks from other people, but a stolen phone can still be used to read private messages as long as it’s unlocked.
