WhatsApp | 2 Android devices Brave Browser

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Krister's Blog
krister at hallergard dot com

Last Updated:
2021-11-22
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WhatsApp on 2 Android Devices
Same Account

WhatsApp only allows one mobile device per account. About 6 years ago it became possible to clone WhatsApp to one device (PC) with WhatsApp for Web in a browser or with the WhatsApp for Desktop program. Recently WhatsApp introduced a beta program allowing up to four clones, but still only allowing one Android device. But here is a fix to allow another Android device!

View Video 2 min

I prefer having WhatsApp on my tablet which has a bigger screen than my phone, and I am mostly at home. At times WhatsApp would be nice to have on the phone when away, e.g. to send a picture straight away even when travelling without the tablet.

The trick is to get the device to pass as a non-mobile device, Desktop. Have found a browser app that allows this persistently: The Brave Browser can enable Site Settings "Desktop Mode" permanently. When opening https://web.whatsapp.com a QE Code will appear, which scanned by the WhatsApp master device will pair the devices and create the clone. Note web not www!

Brave Browser
Enable Desktop mode

WhatsApp Link a Device
Google Chrome (Linux) is
actually Brave Browser (Android)

Pictures can be shared in the clone's Message box using the paper clip (but not shared via the device's file manager). There are WhatsApp clone apps in the Play Store - but I have not found a free one without very disturbing adverts and/or needing frequent re-linking. The need for re-linking is a problem for browsers that do not make the Desktop mode permanent.

Addendum 2021-11-23: Found out that Chrome://flags enables a global setting of the Chrome Browser to Desktop mode. With this a WhatsApp clone can be created. But I do not want all sites on Chrome to be in the Desktop mode - so after saving the WhatsApp clone to the home screen, I changed the site setting back to Desktop disabled. After restarting the bookmark and toggling to Desktop I was surprised to get the clone back (previous behaviour was to switch the url to www.whatsapp.com)!

As to Firefox I found this link, not ideal I think.

Forcing Chrome Desktop