Planned: WhatsApp gets Apple Watch app
Until now, there was no official watchOS solution for Meta's communication service. A first beta test is now starting.
Apple Watch with WhatsApp logo: Soon its own companion app on the watch.
(Image: Apple / Meta / Bearbeitung: heise medien)
The Apple Watch has been on the market for ten and a half years – and is considered the best-selling smartwatch ever. Nevertheless, Meta had not yet made any moves to bring its popular messenger service WhatsApp to the device; only forwarding and displaying messages from the iPhone was possible. However, there is now said to be an official client for watchOS for the first time: This week, a trial phase also began for external users via Apple's beta platform TestFlight, although as usual, it is only available to selected users.
Basic functions, but iPhone dependency
The app is said to have all the basic functions known from the iOS version, albeit adapted to the watch's form factor. You can read and reply to WhatsApp messages, send reactions, send voice messages, and more – even if the experience is currently still "limited," as Testers report.
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According to WABetaInfo, the application is linked to a current WhatsApp beta for iOS (25.32.10.71), so you must also be part of this beta program. Apparently, WhatsApp for watchOS is not an application that can be used without an iPhone, even if the smartwatch has LTE or 5G (from Series 11 / Ultra 3). There is a chat list, an interface adapted to watchOS, and a synchronization screen – if the connection to the iPhone is lost, you will be notified.
Setup easy, general availability still unclear
Overall, the use is said to be more pleasant than via the push notifications on the smartwatch, which were previously the only option. Commendable: The setup of the watchOS version is automatic, so it is not necessary to know the annoying link code, as is the case with Mac or PC. watchOS 10 (currently watchOS 26) is the minimum requirement. When the app will be generally released remains to be seen; it could still take months.
It is unclear whether Meta is planning a "real" watchOS app that can also be used without a connected iPhone. Wear OS, where there has been a WhatsApp variant for a long time, works in the same way as the newly released beta of the Apple Watch variant – here too, a connected phone is necessary. Current Apple Watch models are quite capable of running complex applications. Users especially appreciate being able to leave their iPhone at home during sports.
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