WhatsApp does it yet again, making news
for something that’s really not news. Albeit it is on their WhatsApp Blog!
Turns
out that Facebook-owned WhatsApp has
launched a web based visions of WhatsApp
called WhatsApp Web that allows you to use WhatsApp on your Desktop via your Browser as
reported in the article “Facebook's
WhatsApp comes to Desktop computers”, published January 21, 2015 12:35 PM
PST by Richard Nieva, CNET News and “WhatsApp launches Desktop
messaging option”, published 21 January 2015 Last updated at 20:09 GMT , BBC News.
 |
The
News was officially announced with instruction in a WhatsApp Blog article entitled quite
appropriately WhatsApp Web.
WhatsApp has some 700 million Active Monthly users as noted
in my blog
article entitled “WhatsApp
reaches 700 million Active Monthly Users - Double Blue Checkmarks from China,
Japan and South Korea and Russia with Love” so this is actually a bid deal,
really.
To
bloggers and other peeps that follow this stuff, this seems strange.
After
all, it’s well known that you can install either Bluestacks App Player or Andy App Player to run android Apps such as
WhatsApp as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
to use the BlueStacks App Player to play Android Apps on PC or Laptop -
Bluestacks App Player is The Great Gatsby for Android”.
Alternately,
for a more realistic Android experience, you can use the Andy App Player that fully simulates the
Google Android OS to run WhatsApp as
noted in my blog
article entitled “How
to use the Andy App Player to play Android Apps on PC or Laptop - Android and
Windows Live-OS swappable Project looks more possible”.
I
even did a more detailed “How to” step-by-step article on how to use WhatsApp on your computer using the Bluestacks App Player in a
Geezam blog article entitled “How to use
WhatsApp on your Computer”. So the knowledge of how to install WhatsApp on your desktop or Laptop
computer is out there!
You
can also mirror your smartphone using SplashTop’s
Mirroring360 and Squirrel’s
Reflector which works well for Apple iPhones as well as Google Android
smartphones as noted in my blog article entitled
“SplashTop’s
Mirroring360 and Squirrel’s Reflector lets you mirror your Apple iPhone, iPad
or iPod Nano to your Desktop or Laptop”.
Finally,
to throw in the Kitchen sink, Google even made their own mirroring software in
the form of a Chrome
Remote Desktop for Android App allows you to remotely control your computer
using your smartphone once Google
Chrome Remote Desktop is installed
as noted in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Google
Chrome Remote Desktop lets you control your computer from Google Chrome for
Android App”.
So
with all these alternatives, how is being able to access WhatsApp via your Browser such a big deal?
Short answer; more convenient and Bigger Screen!
WhatsApp comes to the Desktop
via the Browser – How to use WhatsApp Web in your Browser
WhatsApp Web
on your Desktop is a Browser Application that you log into rather than install
as a Browser Extension or comes baked into your Browser as a native
application. Also, it appears to be a lot more comfortable working with Google
Chrome Browsers and Google Android smartphones that Apple iPhones, which is
strange, as Facebook and Google are enemies.
Brace
yourselves Apple peeps; it gets stranger and Google-ier from there.
The
WhatsApp Web
Browser Extension only works with Google Android smartphones, not Apple
iPhones. To be precise, the WhatsApp Web Browser Extension only
supports the following smartphone and their respective OS:
1.
Google Android
2.
Windows Phone
3.
BlackBerry
4.
Nokia S60
Also,
you'll still need your smartphone during the process of connecting to your WhatsApp via your computer's Browser. Your
smarphone needs to have a Data Service or be connected to the Internet via
Wi-Fi as well as it has to be the latest update of WhatsApp, as it need to update to support
the WhatsApp Web
Browser Extension.
To
login, click on WhatsApp Web
link or copy the URL (Universal Resource Locator) http://web.whatsapp.com/ into the Address
bar of your browser.
A
QR Code then appears as shown below.
 |
Using WhatsApp, scan the QR Code in a manner similar to gaining access to one of those Anonymous Mobile Social Networks that Facebook is allowing people to create in a throwback to the 90's called Facebook Rooms as detailed in my blog article entitled “Facebook launches Facebook Rooms - The 90’s Return as Facebook faces competition from Anonymous Mobile Social Networks”.
In
the case of WhatsApp, it’s not about guaranteeing
privacy, but because WhatsApp uses SMS
and telephone number to validate users. Thus, in order to do that on a Desktop,
it has to encrypt your smartphone's phone numbers as a QR Code, which you then
have to take a picture of using WhatsApp
as part of the login process.
WhatsApp on your smartphone reads the QR
Code presented in the Browser and thus synchs your smartphone to the Desktop using
the information encoded in the QR Code displayed. In essence, you're really
mirrorring your smartphone as hinted in the article “WhatsApp
Is Now Available on the Desktop”, published 1/22/2015 @ 12:11AM by Amit Chowdhry,
Forbes.
Once
this mirroring procedure is complete, just like any mirroring of a Smartphone
to a Desktop via a Browser Extension as in the case of the Chrome
Remote Desktop for Android App that allows you to remotely control your
computer using your smartphone once Google
Chrome Remote Desktop is installed
as noted in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Google
Chrome Remote Desktop lets you control your computer from Google Chrome for
Android App”, you have to:
1.
Keep your smartphone turned on and
battery charged
2.
Keep the smartphone connected to the
Internet
3.
Make sure WhatsApp is running while using the WhatsApp Web
4.
Make sure the Browser on your Laptop for
Desktop computer is running
If
any of these closes, you’ll lose synchronization and the WhatsApp Web
will be unable to send and receive messages via WhatsApp.
In
fact, if your smartphone battery starts running out of power, you'll see an
orange warning indicator in WhatsApp Web advising you to get
your smartphone charged or lose the connection as noted in the article “WhatsApp
Comes to the Desktop”, published 21.01.2015 by Greg Kumparak, Techcrunch.
 |
Albeit a good attempt at making mirroring convenient for the non-technical user, the lack of a solution for the Apple iPhone is an indication of the difficulties of coding Objective C programs to work with Apple iOS.
WhatsApp on your PC or
Laptop - Bluestacks App Player and the Andy App Player are still better
Still
I prefer to use the Bluestacks
App Player and the Andy App Player.
If only the Bluestacks App
Player and the Andy App Player were
popular enough, this wouldn't have happened.
Its
isn't surprising to me personally, as with the popularity of WhatsApp, it's a little annoying to type messages
on that little smartphone screen; at times we long for a bigger screen with a
keyboard as noted in the article “WhatsApp
Comes To The Desktop”, published 21.01.2015 by Greg Kumparak, Techcrunch.
So
really and truly, it's really about convenience; most American and by extension
Jamaicans dislike fiddling with their computer once they got it working right.
They're especially wary of installing any software that they don't understand.
Plus
a Desktop Browser based version of WhatsApp
makes sense as WhatsApp was born as a
Mobile Social Network.
Hence
the reason why Facebook purchased them as noted in my blog article
entitled “Facebook
acquires WhatsApp for US$19 Billion - CEO Jan Koum Revelry will fade once faced
with BBM and Google+, Guardians of the Galaxy of Mobile Social Networks” with
the Desktop in all countries remaining as the last unconquered frontier.
Here’s
the link:
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