What you need to know
- Users with two phone numbers and compatible phones can will soon be able to have two accounts on WhatsApp.
- The app will allow users to easily switch between the accounts.
- Both accounts can have individual privacy and notification settings.
After allowing the same WhatsApp account to be accessed across multiple devices early this year, Meta is bringing a new ability to the messaging service: setting up multiple accounts on a single device.
Mark Zuckerberg announced the feature across multiple platforms, including Facebook and the newly introduced WhatsApp channels. The feature has been in the works via the beta and WhatsApp Business versions over a couple of months, and it is finally official. The new capability aims to let users easily switch accounts, for example, between their personal and professional numbers, Meta mentioned in a shared press release.
Until now, users either had to rely on two separate phones, or features like app cloning, which lets users clone multiple social media apps and messaging apps, including WhatsApp so they can use them with multiple accounts.
Regardless, the functionality built in the native app is a convenient move from WhatsApp as not many top leading messaging apps incorporate this feature. Setting up a multi-account is also easy on WhatsApp. Users have to navigate to their WhatsApp settings, click on the arrow beside their name, and click the new "Add account."
Users have to bear in mind that to enable this feature, their devices should either support multi-SIM or eSIM and carry a second phone number other than the primary. After adding the account, users can still have privacy and notification settings sorted separately per their preferences.
As mentioned, this comes as a new addition to WhatsApp's plethora of new features announced recently. They include the ability to add the same WhatsApp account to another Android tablet, followed by using the same WhatsApp account on up to four devices, and the most recent announcement of passkeys for the first time on the messaging service.
