WhatsApp is arguably the most popular messaging platform in the world, and the Facebook-owned company boasted in 2018 that it processed 64 billion messages processed on its servers on its most successful day (we’ll give you a second to sink it).
But what if you want to use WhatsApp on your Mac to reply to messages on your iPhone? Is there a way to do that? It turns out that there are several ways to access WhatsApp on Mac, and here are the best options.
So, this article explains how to access, send and receive messages via WhatsApp for iPhone (or Android!) On Mac. Oh, and if you want to use WhatsApp on your iPad, we have a tutorial for that.
Update August 24, 2021: The good news is that the Whatsapp app for iPad is coming soon, which could mean a Mac app is coming soon.
WhatsApp Network
In 2015, WhatsApp began offering a PC and Mac version of WhatsApp called WhatsApp Web. It is essentially a browser-based WhatsApp application, allowing users to log in from virtually any device and access their WhatsApp messages.
- Access the WhatsApp website in Safari, Chrome, Opera or FireFox.
- Open WhatsApp on your iPhone.
- Tap on Settings
- Select WhatsApp Web / Desktop.
- Tap on Scan Barcode and wait for the browser to connect to WhatsApp.
Remember that since WhatsApp connects to your iPhone to sync your messages, make sure it’s connected to Wi-Fi otherwise you may be using your data.
You will have access to all conversations available on your smartphone. In addition, you can send and receive multimedia, participate in group chats, send and receive voice memos, and even receive notifications when you receive a new message.
You can even record voice memos and send them to your friends. Next to Type a message you will see a microphone icon, click on it and (after confirming the use of the microphone) you can record an audio message.
WhatsApp Desktop
Following the success of WhatsApp Web, the company launched its own desktop application for Mac and PC users. It can be downloaded for free from WhatsApp or from the Mac App Store here and is extremely simple to set up.
- Download WhatsApp Desktop, install and open.
- As with a web browser, you need to open Whatsapp on your iPhone and scan the QR code, so tap Settings> WhatsApp Web / Desktop and scan the QR code.
- You will see all your WhatsApp conversations appear in the application window.
When you pair your PC or Mac with your mobile device, your WhatsApp contacts and calls will sync directly to your desktop computer! All sent or received messages are reflected in real time on both the phone and the desktop application. Therefore, if you delete a conversation on your phone, it will delete it from the desktop app and vice versa.
As with the web app, you need to have data or Wi-Fi turned on on your phone, so make sure you have a data plan that meets your requirements or provides a Wi-Fi connection. If your phone is not connected you will not receive messages and sent messages will be suspended.
If you ever want to stop the desktop app from sending and receiving messages, simply sign out of the desktop app.
After logging into the desktop app, you’ll see an alert asking if you want to sign out of the browser version.
How do I make a video call in WhatsApp on Mac?
The iOS version of WhatsApp allows you to make video calls simply by tapping the video camera icon at the top of the message thread. You can even add up to four additional participants.
Unfortunately, this isn’t replicated by the desktop or browser version of the app, so you can’t make Whatsapp video calls on your Mac.
Or at least officially you can’t. There is a workaround for this if you can install an iOS or Android emulator on your Mac.
If you have Xcode, you can emulate iOS WhatsApp there.
Alternatively, you can try the following Android emulators for example:
- AndY
- Nox
- BlueStacks
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