image source, Reuters
There is a new message for you.
Popular messaging app WhatsApp is testing a new feature. If you do not have your smartphone with you, then you will be able to send messages through this feature.
At present, WhatsApp is linked to the user’s smartphone. To receive or send messages on the web and desktop versions, the smartphone needs to be connected to it.
But this new feature of WhatsApp will allow the user to use messaging services even when the battery is out or the phone is turned off.
WhatsApp says that users will be able to use it on up to four devices such as personal computers and tablets.
image source, PA Media
end-to-end aencryption
This new feature is currently going through the testing phase and this feature has been given to a small group so that they can give their feedback on it and if necessary improvements and new things are to be added in it before the public launch, it can be done.
End-to-end encryption for WhatsApp is a feature it has been emphasizing on since its inception. The company has said that the feature with end-to-end encryption will continue to work in the new system as before.
WhatsApp is not the first app in the messaging app market to launch this feature. Other messaging apps like Signal are already equipped with this feature.
A phone is needed to register in this, but it is not necessary to have a phone to exchange messages.
WhatsApp, a company with two billion user base, says that the public had been demanding for this for a long time.
image source, Getty Images
primary device
Facebook has given information about this new feature in a blog post. The company’s engineers say that for this change, the software of WhatsApp had to be redesigned.
The company says, “This had to be done because the current version of WhatsApp uses the smartphone app as the primary device. This smartphone is the primary source of user data and end-to-end for calling or messaging service on this device.” The end encryption feature also works.
WhatsApp Web and other non-smartphone apps act as mirrors, meaning that only what is happening on the phone can be viewed on a desktop or laptop browser.
But those who use it regularly have to face many problems. Like web users often complain that their WhatsApp gets disconnected again and again.
This also means that WhatsApp can be active in only one place at a time outside your smartphone. If you activate it on another device, the already active web version will be disconnected.
image source, Getty Images
‘Identity Key’
But now the company says that, “The new feature of WhatsApp will allow it to work on more than one device. This will remove the old hurdles. It will not even require a smartphone to start, while the user data is as before.” Can be stored and its confidentiality will also be maintained.
Facebook’s engineers have created a technical way for this. Each device of the user will be given an ‘identity key’ and WhatsApp will keep a record of which ‘identity key’ belongs to which device of which user.
This means that the user will not need to keep his data on his own device, this can lead to a breach of privacy.
Why the uproar over the new rules of social media?
But Jack Moore, a data security analyst at antivirus company ‘Eset’, says that no matter how many security arrangements are made, sending and receiving messages on more than one device can become a cause for concern.
He says, “There will always be people with bad intentions. Harmful elements in the home, stalkers will try to use this new feature to digitally infiltrate private communication. This feature has its own risks. User’s responsibility increases. How he can prevent its possible misuse. He should know how many devices are connected to his account.”
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