WhatsApp’s latest feature addition is one that users have been asking for for years: the ability to have multiple accounts on the same device.
“Today, we’re introducing the ability to have two WhatsApp accounts on Android logged in at the same time. Helpful for switching between accounts – such as your work and personal – now you no longer need to log out each time, carry two phones or worry about messaging from the wrong place,” WhatsApp wrote on its blog while announcing the new feature.
“To set up a second account, you will need a second phone number and SIM card, or a phone that accepts multi-SIM or eSIM. Simply open your WhatsApp settings, click on the arrow next to your name, and click “Add account”. You can control your privacy and notification settings on each account,” says WhatsApp.
For years, (Android) smartphone makers have worked around WhatsApp’s inability to run multiple instances on the same device by offering users easy tools that allowed them to do so. Multiple apps had also popped up on the Google Play Store that made it possible for users to do the same.
