Even though this year started with a brief WhatsApp global outage, but that didn’t let the cross-platform instant messaging, voice, and video calling service, to hold back. Recently, the company introduced a ‘WhatsApp Business’ app and now after testing with a limited number of users as part of their desktop beta program, it has finally released ‘WhatsApp Desktop’ for Windows 10 in the Microsoft Store.
The company has been offering a desktop version of WhatsApp since 2016, a ‘classic’ Win32 app. Though the new desktop version is an official Store app, like the previous versions, it too isn’t built on the native Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Instead, Microsoft’s Desktop Bridge has been used to bring the app to the Microsoft Store.
‘WhatsApp Desktop’ resembles quite a bit with the previous desktop version that is bundled with Desktop App Converter for Project Contennial.
Moving on to the app features, you can share files of various types, edit profile information, send GIF’s and Emojis and view Status Updates. It also includes the push notifications so that the users don’t miss a message. However, ‘WhatsApp Desktop’ still doesn’t feature video calls and some more options that are available in the mobile version.
For the usage, just like before, this app too, is an extension of the mobile app. Meaning, the user would need the WhatsApp app installed on their smartphones to gain access and then use the application. Also, for the people who prefer the website version of the messenger, the web version at web.whatsapp.com, is still here for them to use.
The app’s download size is approximately 250 MB and requires Windows 10 64-bit for its working.
You can download ‘WhatsApp Desktop’ from the Microsoft Store, by clicking here. But note that, only the selected beta testers will be able to successfully access their accounts using their Facebook credentials. Those who are not selected will receive ‘403: Forbidden’ error when they would log in.
As, currently, the app is not available in all the regions, so you would have to wait for it to become available in your country.
