The Meta-owned messaging giant WhatsApp has rolled out a beta version of its new Catalyst-powered app for macOS, indicating that the app is now nearing its official release. Since last year, WhatsApp has apparently been developing this new universal version for macOS and iPadOS.
Furthermore, it is pertinent to mention here that WhatsApp is now accessible to Mac users via a macOS application. This application is totally built on WhatsApp Web and uses Electron technology. As a result, the current WhatsApp client for Mac is rather sluggish and requires more CPU and memory resources.
WhatsApp Rolls Out Beta Version of its new Catalyst Powered MacOS App
With Catalyst technology, which enables developers to port iOS programs to macOS, WhatsApp now offers a native version of its app for Intel and Apple Silicon Macs that is faster and runs more efficiently. As initially reported by WABetaInfo, the new app differs greatly from WhatsApp Desktop in appearance because it is built on WhatsApp for iPhone (and the upcoming iPad version).
A new sidebar provides access to the tabs (Chats, Calls, Archived, Favorited, and Settings) similar to that of the WhatsApp iOS app. Though, some features like Status, group calls, location sharing, and audio messaging, are not yet fully functional. As this is a very early beta, it is likely that these features will be incorporated in future releases. When it comes to sending and receiving standard text messages and phone calls, the app performs flawlessly, and it is noticeably faster than its predecessor (Electron version).
Notably, the new WhatsApp app for macOS is not an independent WhatsApp client. It implies that you would have to connect your iPhone or any other smartphone to your WhatsApp account.
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