Meta Stop Original WhatsApp Apps In Windows 11, Change To Web Version

WhatsApp on Windows will be web-based (photo: dock. Gizmochina)

JAKARTA Meta, the company that oversees Instagram and Facebook, made major changes to the WhatsApp app for desktop. Reportedly, this original application has been replaced with the WebView version.

This change was first discovered by Windows Latest. Basically, this latest desktop WhatsApp version contains a web version within the Microsoft Chromium framework. This change is gradually being expanded.

The switch of the original version of the desktop app to the WebView version shows that Meta is back to focusing on the browser approach. In fact, Meta has invested in the native WinUI/UWP for years.

In this change, WhatsApp will display an application that basically only opens web pages.whatsapp.com. This is done through WebView2 integration into the application framework.

Unfortunately, this transition has a number of notes, one of which is in terms of performance. Some users reported that WebView-based desktop WhatsApp experienced a decline in performance. The reason is, conversation navigation is slower and less responsive.

This declining performance can be seen in the slow animation and transition in the application. This new application is also reported to be problematic with Windows 11 special behavior. These problems include handling notifications and Don't Disturb modes.

These problems make the latest version of WhatsApp look less integrated with the Windows 11 operating system (OS). In addition, the demands for system resources are reported to be higher. This is feared to burden the user's device.

This change is thought to be related to Meta's internal restructuring. Most likely, this restructuring leads to a reduction in teams developing native applications. By maintaining a web-based database, Meta can reduce the cost and development time.

This latest version was launched via Microsoft Store with version number 2.2584.3.0. Although original WhatsApp users are not required to update their apps, reports claim that all users will eventually be forced to switch to web-based versions.