Anyone got a workaround to use the WhatsApp web interface if you're an iOS user?

Didn't know this existed. I've always wanted to use the messages/whatsapp apps on my pc.

With iOS jailbreak is probably the only way to get around it
 
UberTiger said:
Turns out though, due to Apple's freakin' locked down iOS limitations, iOS users can't use it!

https://blog.whatsapp.com/614/WhatsApp-Web

It's been over 3 months since it launched and no fix yet, anyone got a work around for this?
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As you probably realise, the WhatsApp web client works in the same way that AirDroid etc. works, using your phone as the client and connecting the web app directly to that.

I know this isn't a helpful response, however blame WhatsApp/Facebook for not creating a proper web client. It's not Apple's fault for restricting access (i.e. preventing remote access to your phone with all of your personal information on it) in the name of security. Telegram has managed to offer a proper web client (and clients for every single platform you will use on a daily basis), so why WhatsApp/Facebook haven't is beyond me.

Honestly, it may be worth considering moving to another service, of course depending on how many friends you have using WhatsApp as their primary means of communication (plenty of people have it but that doesn't mean that everybody uses it - I've found most I know actually don't!).

If you're willing to jailbreak, there is a tweak that allows what you're after.
 
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Thanks for the info!

I didn't realise that's how it worked. I had no idea really, but figured perhaps once you were connected to the web client it could just sync all your conversations server side via push, rather than the way you described above.

It's not a deal breaker for me, I understand that Apple puts a lot of restrictions in place for security reasons, and for good reason. But this is something that I've anticipated coming for a long time, then got excited when I stumbled across it, then frustrated when I realised iOS is the only platform it's not working on yet...I'm sure if Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone can get it working, they can't all be insecure.

CBA to jailbreak these days. Would rather just wait for official implementations of new features.

I've not heard of telegram. Is that a competitor to What's App? Or does it have it's own spin on messaging?

EDIT
Q: How is Telegram different from WhatsApp?
Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is cloud-based and heavily encrypted. As a result, you can access your messages from several devices at once, including tablets and computers, and share an unlimited number of photos, videos and files (doc, zip, mp3, etc) of up to 1,5 GB. Thanks to our multi-data center infrastructure and encryption, Telegram is also faster and way more secure. On top of that, Telegram is free and will stay free — no ads, no subscription fees, forever.
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UberTiger said:
It's not a deal breaker for me, I understand that Apple puts a lot of restrictions in place for security reasons, and for good reason. But this is something that I've anticipated coming for a long time, then got excited when I stumbled across it, then frustrated when I realised iOS is the only platform it's not working on yet...I'm sure if Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone can get it working, they can't all be insecure.
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The most likely reason that Apple don't allow is that doing so would result in a huge number of apps exploiting the ability for what most will deem unreasonable purposes, which does happen and has happened on Android.

UberTiger said:
I've not heard of telegram. Is that a competitor to What's App? Or does it have it's own spin on messaging?
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Ignore the advertising blurb, as quite frankly security on all of these services is as good/bad as each other, i.e. don't presume. There are services explicitly designed for that.

Telegram became well known and reached the top of the App Store the week that WhatsApp was scooped up by Facebook. From a user perspective it provides great clients on all common platforms (OS X, iOS, Windows, WP, Android, Linux and web), is darn reliable, fast, the ticks make sense (user-received/user-read, WhatsApp is server-received/user-received, which is completely illogical, we only care if the other user has received the message!), it offers both compressed and uncompressed sharing, list goes on really.

Not trying to advertise for them however I've been through all the major services and Telegram is the only one that has kept me. It's essentially a more polished version of all the chat services you are already familiar with. I can't really find any drawbacks in terms of usability. Only potential issue is the user-base being smaller (but still more sizeable than that of imo.im and whatever else - chances are you'll run into someone using Telegram), however I've found that the people that try it stick with it/move completely to it.

Depends what you're looking for really. Quite frankly, if all you're looking for is something that is multiplatform and better than iMessage, a carrier pigeon would be faster and more reliable.
 
Feek said:
On the strength of that, I've installed Telegram and just eight people out of all my contacts have it. That's not a very good takeup.
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It's undeniably true, and it's the problem with virtually anything that isn't WhatsApp, BBM etc. It's huge compared to the small-time players but no, doesn't compare with WhatsApp.

As I said before, if you can get people to move to it, it's a great service. However, WhatsApp and whatever else "will do" if you can't.
 
Hmmm...just installed it and only 37 of my 2,900 contacts have it. Yikes, that's only 1.3%

Still if I can get the people I communicate with most often to install it then it could be handy. There's only about 10 people I communicate with regularly via what's app, if I can convince them to download it then it would be worth it so that I can use the desktop/web app on my laptop and desktop.

Some of them I know would be resistant to it, they're anal about how many programs they have installed, icon arrangement etc. They'd rather not install yet another chat app even if it comes with a strong recommendation from a friend/family member...
 
UberTiger said:
Hmmm...just installed it and only 37 of my 2,900 contacts have it. Yikes, that's only 1.3%

Still if I can get the people I communicate with most often to install it then it could be handy. There's only about 10 people I communicate with regularly via what's app, if I can convince them to download it then it would be worth it so that I can use the desktop/web app on my laptop and desktop.

Some of them I know would be resistant to it, they're anal about how many programs they have installed, icon arrangement etc. They'd rather not install yet another chat app even if it comes with a strong recommendation from a friend/family member...
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Presumably virtually all these people have Facebook? Why not just use Facebook Messenger/Chat/whatever it's called now (I don't have Facebook)? Or are they not using that because of the pointless separate app as well?
 
Roughly 3 of the 10 people I chat to regularly have closed their facebook accounts or don't have one and live abroad, so we prefer a program like What's App or Viber.

Personally I try to avoid Facebook too, where possible. I've closed my account a couple of times but I've had to reactivate it shortly after as I have a number of facebook apps plugged into websites and I now manage a few facebook pages, so it's not really an option for me to stay away completely.

The other 95% of users in my contact book are business customers whom I communicate via normal SMS. Thanks to the November OSX update I can already communicate with all of them via keyboard through Messages on my Mac, which is ace.
 
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