The insanely popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp has announced a tweak to its existing multi-device support that makes it easier than ever for people to stay in touch with their friends and family.In a message posted on the official WhatsApp account on Twitter, the Meta-owned messaging outfit said that users can now link their WhatsApp account to up to four different devices, with chats synced and encrypted, "even if your phones goes offline." That means that your iPhone or Android phone's battery can die mid-chat, but you'll still be able to continue elsewhere.

Big changes

That's a big change for WhatsApp and it undoes one limitation that people have been fighting with for years. Previously, multi-device support worked in a way that required the user's phone to remain online and connected to the internet in order to function. That meant that if their phone died there was no way for them to use WhatsApp. Now, that's all changing.

Unfortunately, WhatsApp still doesn't do the thing that so many people continue to cry out for — you still can't sign into your WhatsApp account on multiple phones because that account is linked to a unique phone number and doesn't authenticate via a password when signing in afresh. As a result, you can't be signed into WhatsApp on two different phones at the same time.

The added flexibility afforded by this change shouldn't be underestimated and it's been a long time coming. Users will still need to link their devices to their accounts however, but at least it's now possible to use WhatsApp for web or desktop without having to ensure that your phone remains online throughout.