There are rumours and then there are premeditated rumours. WhatApp’s web version was the second one. We have been hearing about the web client of the the popular messaging app for a long time now. Yesterday, the company officially announced a web app that will turn your Google Chrome browser into a WhatsApp window.

It is a web app not a native client for your desktop, that means you need to be connected to the internet on your phone for the web app to work. It basically mirrors the app on your phone onto the web site. To use it, you need log onto the WhatsApp web page, scan a QR code with the WhatsApp mobile app, then get to typing your messages from there.

This is necessary, presumably, because WhatsApp uses your phone number and SMS verifications rather than usernames/passwords. This currently works on Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry, but not on iOS.

One of the main limitations of the app is its dependence on the mobile network, so if your phone dies because of the low battery, the web client won’t work either. However, it is just a start, we expect the company to add more feature and support for other browsers as well as iOS in coming months.

We tried to connect our Android device with the web client, but it seems the update hasn’t reached the Indian shores yet.