WhatsApp will add multi-device support, introduce ‘view once’ disappearing feature

WhatsApp will soon let you use the popular instant messaging app simultaneously on multiple devices, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said. The instant messaging app, used by over 2 billion users, also plans to add more options to its disappearing messages feature, top executives said.

Zuckerberg confirmed to news outlet WaBetaInfo that multi-device support will be arriving on the instant messaging service “soon.” WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said users will be able to connect up to four devices to one account. The messaging firm is also working to introduce a dedicated WhatsApp app for the iPad, he said.

“It’s been a big technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we’ve solved this and we’re looking forward to getting it out soon!” Zuckerberg said.

The instant messaging service, which last year introduced the ability to set a seven-day timer on messages (disappearing mode), is now planning to expand this feature to let users share pictures and videos that can only be viewed once. “We’re also about to start rolling out ‘view once,’ so you can send content and have it disappear after the person sees it,” Zuckerberg said.

WhatsApp users will also get an option to enforce disappearing mode across the app for all new chats.

Zuckerberg and Cathcart told the news outlet — and it’s indeed the two of them talking — that these features will be available to users in public beta “in the next month or two.”