For Years It Has Been Easy To Access Whatsapp From The Desktop Via Whatsapp Web, A Native App Available In The Microsoft Store, And A Platform-Agnostic App Built On The Electron Framework.

Now, WhatsApp has announced that the second app will be discontinued, and anyone who is still using the Electron-based app will have to use the original app to continue using WhatsApp.

In the early stages of WhatsApp development, developers created a desktop application based on the Electron JavaScript framework.

This allowed them to use a code base on WhatsApp Web and the new platform-based desktop app on Windows and macOS. About four weeks ago, a countdown timer appeared on the desktop app’s home screen, announcing its shutdown.

Now, it’s time for the desktop version to expire, and according to WABetaInfo, users of the Electron-based app will see a page with the content App expired.

The deprecated app is then moved with a link to the original WhatsApp desktop app available in the Microsoft or Mac App Store.

The new native app has been in the stable version for a year but is still relatively new. Some users may complain that the transition period is short or that the native app doesn’t have all the functionality that business users need, such as catalog management and quick responses, and they’re right.

However, this transition is happening for a good reason. Although the Electron application was versatile and lightweight, it was not optimized for macOS or Windows, making it a resource-intensive application, especially for low-end machines. In comparison, the new native app is optimized for each desktop operating system and offers more stability when using a system with fewer resources.

Additionally, WABetaInfo hopes to include soon the tools available in WhatsApp Business, which the Electron app doesn’t compete with for developer attention, into the native app.