A new WhatsApp beta release has dropped, and with it comes compatibility with Wear OS 3 smartwatches – so if you have the beta installed you’ll finally get notifications and be able to answer WhatsApp calls using your wearable.
Plus, you won’t need to go digging through your settings on your phone or smartwatch; once you’ve downloaded the update the feature will be turned on automatically.
Interestingly (or unfortunately for those of you who love communicating through your watch) the feature is currently a one-way affair. While you can answer WhatsApp calls and interact with the caller just as you would with any other call on your watch, you can’t initiate a call from your wearable; instead, you’ll have to use the WhatsApp phone app or a different service if you want to get in touch with someone.
As mentioned above, to use the feature you’ll need both the latest version of the WhatsApp beta (version 2.22.19.11) and a Wear OS 3 smartwatch. Right now the list of devices is fairly limited, and includes the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the Montblanc Summit 3, and the newly launched Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.
Other watches, like the Fossil Gen 6 and TicWatch Pro 3, are expected to be updated to WearOS 3 sometime in the near future, and we imagine the upcoming Google Pixel Watch will launch with the OS too. But for now, you’re mostly stuck with Samsung’s smartwatches.
If you have one of these devices and want to take advantage of the WhatsApp beta release, all you have to do is head over to the official WhatsApp test page on the Google Play store. Right now it’s showing up as full; you might get lucky and be able to snag a spot if someone leaves, but we expect it won’t be long before the option becomes available in the full WhatsApp release.
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