WhatsApp for macOS Native App Built on Catalyst Being Tested: Report

WhatsApp has reportedly launched a beta version of its new macOS app built on Catalyst technology. The new WhatsApp desktop design reportedly looks different from the earlier design. The report also adds that certain features and design may not work smoothly. WhatsApp was also recently spotted working on a feature that could allow users to sync chats between two smartphones, as per a report earlier this month.

According to a new report by WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo, the Meta-owned messaging service is rolling out a beta version of its new macOS app built on Catalyst technology. As mentioned earlier, the Catalyst technology lets developers bring iOS apps to macOS. The WhatsApp beta app for macOS is said to look quite different from the existing design. The existing desktop app for WhatsApp on macOS is built with a framework called Electron to wrap WhatsApp Web. The new WhatsApp for macOS is built with Catalyst instead. This is said to bring higher performance and the app is expected to use fewer resources in terms of memory.

As seen on a screenshot of the WhatsApp beta app for macOS, there is a new sidebar that features tabs like Archived, Chats, Calls, Starred, and Settings. There are also two shortcuts for archived chats and starred messages.

The report also adds that certain features and design may not work smoothly like chat history syncing. Some features are also unavailable as of now including Group calls, Location sending, Status, and Voice messaging.

As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp was also said to be working on a feature that could allow users to sync chats between two smartphones, as per a report earlier this month. The feature was spotted by a feature tracker on beta version 2.22.15.13 for Android, and is expected to part of a future update that will expand the functionality of WhatsApp's multi-device features.