After months of waiting and sightings, the first beta of the native WhatsApp app for macOS has been released, with significant performance advantages over the current desktop app based on the Electron framework.
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Lately, WhatsApp messaging is a flood of news. As soon as last May there was a rumor that a function was being developed to silently leave the groups, while at the beginning of July it was discovered some work in progress to conceal one’s online status: in the meantime, the elimination for all has exceeded the two days of duration, and it became possible to use any emoji as Reactions to messages. Another one has just been added to these innovations.
As is known, a version of WhatsApp for macOS already exists, even if it is a conversion via Electron framework of the version of the web based platform: in the past few hours, however, via TestFlight on macOS, an embryonic version has been made available and beta of WhatsApp native for macOS, created with the Catalyst tool that converted the iOS version of messaging, with the advantage of less use of resources such as memory, and being able to run natively on all the most current Macs.
Specifically, the new version responds to the aesthetic styles of the Cupertino operating system, and has a practical retractable sidebar: the latter allows you to quickly switch between various sections, such as conversations, important ones, archived ones, calls, and the settings.
To date, among the latter, there are the one to decide whether to automatically save, locally, in the Download folder of your Mac, the media, the one for setting the sending quality of multimedia, the one for changing the background to chats, and for export conversations. The shortcomings, compared to the traditional desktop version, however, are felt: it is not possible to update the status, it does not allow you to send voice messages or make group calls, nor does it allow you to share your position.
To test the native version of WhatsApp for macOS just install the TestFlight app on the Mac: at that point, after clicking on wabetainfo.com/testflight/, you will have to choose “WhatsApp for macOS”, open the latter to view the relevant QR code and, from the mobile app, in “Connected device”, proceed to scan the QR code mentioned above.