Image: Foundry
WhatsApp is an incredibly popular iPhone app, connecting more than a billion active members around the world every day. It lets you send messages to friends, or groups of friends, over Wi-Fi or 4G/5G and make savings on your phone bill. (Of course, you may end up paying for data if you go over your limit, so don’t go crazy!)
Unfortunately, right now WhatsApp is only available for iPhone–there isn’t a version of the app for the iPad despite the fact that WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart (in January 2022) acknowledged in an interview that people had been asking for an iPad app for a long time. Cathcart revealed that much of the infrastructure to develop an iPad app is already in place, but he made no immediate promises.
Things could be about to change though. WhatsApp for iPad is available as a beta via TestFlight and can be installed on the iPad if you are part of WhatsApp beta testing program. Sadly the Whatsapp for iPad beta has remained a beta since it became available in September 2023 and there’s still no news about when it might be released to the public.
If you aren’t part of the WhatsApp beta, don’t despair. In this tutorial, we show you how to use WhatsApp on the iPad using WhatsApp Web. This service connects to the WhatsApp account on your iPhone (or Android device) and forwards the messages on to your iPad, allowing you to send and receive messages, pictures and videos. It’s not quite native WhatsApp on the iPad, but it’s the next best thing.
There is also a WhatsApp Desktop version if you want to use WhatsApp on your Mac. See: How to get WhatsApp on Mac for more information about that.
WhatsApp for iPad release date
While right now there is no WhatsApp app on the iPad, it does look like there is one coming soon. As of September 2023, WhatsApp beta testers have been able to try out a WhatsApp for iPad beta. The beta looks like the most promising evidence yet that a version of Whatsapp will come to the iPad.
However, a year later there is still no news about when a Whatsapp version for the iPad will be available.
Why is Whatsapp for iPad still in beta? If the lack of WhatsApp on iPad is due to security issues, perhaps changes in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 that now allow RCS Messaging support will pave the way for the update. Support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) means that iPhone users can see if their message has been delivered to Android users and see typing indicators that indicate if they are responding. Apple claims the reason why RCS wasn’t previously on the iPhone was down to security issues.
Either way, it doesn’t seem to be Whatsapp’s desire to keep Whatsapp off the iPad. Over the years there have been many indications that WhatsApp would eventually come to iPad, including Will Cathcart’s revelation above that people have been asking for one, and this tweet in August 2021, indicating that a team at Meta/Facebook-owned WhatsApp was working on a WhatsApp for iPad app:
• Is WhatsApp for iPad a web app? No, it’s a native app!
• Will WhatsApp for iPad work independently? Yes.
• Is WhatsApp for iPad already available? No.
• WhatsApp beta for iPad? If you have WhatsApp beta for iOS, you will automatically have the iPad version in the future. https://t.co/aQYBBtW7Sb— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) August 21, 2021
While there is not a WhatsApp app for iPad yet, there are ways to get your WhatsApp on your iPad.
Follow these steps to get WhatsApp on an iPad:
- Open Safari on your iPad and head to web.whatsapp.com.
- Open WhatsApp on your iPhone.
- In Whatsapp tap on Settings.
- Tap on Linked Devices.
- Tap Link a Device.
- Use your iPhone to scan the QR code and pair with your iPhone.
- A web page should now load and display all your recent WhatsApp messages, along with any media or voice notes.
Be aware that there are a few limitations when using WhatsApp this way. Most importantly, unlike when the service is used on a Mac or PC, notifications from web browsers aren’t supported on iOS/iPadOS. You won’t be notified of new messages.
Apart from that and a few small bugs, however, the service is pretty easy to use and a great alternative for WhatsApp users keen to access the service on iPad.
WhatsApp Web is a free and easy way to access the WhatsApp service on your iPad. Although you won’t get notifications (as you would when using the service on Mac or PC), it’s a great way to easily access your messages on a tablet.
Moving from Android to iPhone and want to bring your WhatsApp messages with you? Read: How to move WhatsApp messages from Android to iPhone.
How to install WhatsApp beta on iPad
To run the WhatsApp beta for iPad you need to use Apple’s TestFlight.
Unfortunately, the Whatsapp for iPad beta is currently full and has been for some time, but slots have come up from time to time so it’s worth checking.
For more help installing the WhatsApp for iPad beta read this.
Author: Karen Haslam, Managing Editor, Macworld
Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple’s PR agency prior to joining Macworld more than two decades ago. Karen’s career highlights include interviewing Apple’s Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Having edited the U.K. print and online editions of Macworld for many years, more recently her focus has been on SEO and evergreen content as well as product recommendations and buying advice.
