WhatsApp finally launches official Apple Watch app – here’s which models are getting it

For starters, you’ll be able to read full WhatsApp messages on your Apple Watch (including those lengthy ones from your verbose friend). You’ll also be able to react to messages on your Watch, including using emojis for a quick reaction.

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Beyond messages, the new Apple Watch app will also give you call notifications (so you can see who’s calling without looking at your phone) and the ability to record and send voice messages, if you’re that way inclined.

Meta also says you’ll be able to see “more of your chat history” when reading messages on your Apple Watch. In short, it’ll replicate a lot of the experience from the phone app, with Meta promising that it’s planning to deliver “even more useful functionality for people with Apple Watch in the future”.

(Image credit: Meta)

The new WhatsApp app for the Apple Watch is available to download today – as long as you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or later that’s also running watchOS 10 or later.

The Series 4 came out in September 2018, so if you’ve bought an Apple Watch in the last seven years, you should be covered. The watchOS 10 update landed in 2023 and the Series 4 is the oldest model it supports.

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While we can’t yet see the app at the time of writing, you’ll be able to download it either on your Apple Watch (press the digital crown, then tap App Store) or on your iPhone by going to the Watch app, going to the My Watch app and scrolling to WhatsApp, before hitting install.

The news could be particularly exciting for owners of cellular Apple Watch models, given it opens up the prospect of using something close to the iPhone’s WhatsApp experience while out on a run, only without your phone.

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