WhatsApp - is daughter right?

Grandad99

I Use a desktop PC and a non-smart phone.  Daughter says I can get on WhatsApp on the PC

Initial joining screen shows a QR code that has to be copied to a phone. Is there another way or is she mistaken? 

elsien

You can get WhatsApp on a desktop, but if I remember rightly it does need to be linked to a smart phone which is why you’re getting the QR code.
I don’t think it’s possible to set it up without having a smart phone.

Voyager2002

If you were to borrow her smartphone and use it to scan the QR code, you would be able to use Whatsapp on your PC for a week or so. After a while, it would want you to sign in on the 'phone for verification purposes, and again you would need to use a smartphone.

Flugelhorn

you do need a smartphone to be able to do this  - I find it very useful being able to have whatsapp on desktop and laptop as much easier than typing on phone 

each smartphone whatsapp account be used on 4 other devices so if you used her phone it would mean using her whatsapp account (not a good idea)

pramsay13

If you have WhatsApp on a smartphone you can access it on a computer but you need the phone to sync your account and messages. 
She is mistaken. 

debitcardmayhem

pramsay13 said:

If you have WhatsApp on a smartphone you can access it on a computer but you need the phone to sync your account and messages. 
She is mistaken. 

Not true, it syncs without the phone, you need the phone to read older messages , if you use the pc and send messages , with your phone switched off it still works, and the phone will then sync when switched back on. However from time to time web.whatsapp loses the connection and you have to scan the QR again on the pc using the phone.

kimwp

The wider internet suggests that you can use an emulator on your laptop to pretend to be a smartphone for this.

Voyager2002

Flugelhorn said:

you do need a smartphone to be able to do this  - I find it very useful being able to have whatsapp on desktop and laptop as much easier than typing on phone 

each smartphone whatsapp account be used on 4 other devices so if you used her phone it would mean using her whatsapp account (not a good idea)

And what if the OP inserted his SIM into her smart handset?

Undervalued

Voyager2002 said:

Flugelhorn said:

you do need a smartphone to be able to do this  - I find it very useful being able to have whatsapp on desktop and laptop as much easier than typing on phone 

each smartphone whatsapp account be used on 4 other devices so if you used her phone it would mean using her whatsapp account (not a good idea)

And what if the OP inserted his SIM into her smart handset?

That might work. However, even if it did every so often you have to reauthorize WhatsApp on a PC or Mac by repeating the scan a QR code with your phone process so probably not an ideal solution. 

WhatsApp is intended to work to a phone number and only then allows access to the same account from (I think) a maximum of four other devices which each have be authorised by the original phone.

Undervalued

kimwp said:

The wider internet suggests that you can use an emulator on your laptop to pretend to be a smartphone for this.

Whilst that may be so, is it really likely to be a practical solution for a non smart phone owning "Grandad99" to reliably communicate with his granddaughter?

flaneurs_lobster

Voyager2002 said:

Flugelhorn said:

you do need a smartphone to be able to do this  - I find it very useful being able to have whatsapp on desktop and laptop as much easier than typing on phone 

each smartphone whatsapp account be used on 4 other devices so if you used her phone it would mean using her whatsapp account (not a good idea)

And what if the OP inserted his SIM into her smart handset?

That would work, but would require Whatsapp app on the smartphone to be logged into OP's account, I think that the app supports multiple accounts (otherwise you'd need to uninstall/reinstall for each account). Would need to be repeated each time Whatsapp required re-verification (about weekly on my laptop, more often if the laptop is restarted).