Tech Companion

It's hard to get super excited about mobile payments

At last, WhatsApp has added iOS to the platforms supported by its web app. This means that iPhone users can now sync their accounts and chats to WhatsApp Web. iOS is already listed on WhatsApp Web’s site, but is still gradually rolling out to iPhone users in the app’s latest update.When WhatsApp Web launched in January, it supported Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry but did not include iOS “due to Apple platform limitations,” said the messaging service, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for $19 billion. (It’s also since added Nokia S40 and Nokia S60, as seen in the screenshot below). WhatsApp claimed it hit 800 million monthly active users in April, but it lags behind competitors like WeChat and KakaoTalk in core Asian markets such as China and South Korea. Another rival is Line, which is currently the top messaging service in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.To compete with rival apps, as well as telecoms, WhatsApp launched voice calling in April. WhatsApp Web for iOS is a relatively less important rollout, but it may help WhatsApp keep users from straying to other messaging services, including Line and WeChat, which already sync their desktop clients with iPhones.