There is no denying it, WhatsApp is everything when it comes to both personal and business relationship communications in Zimbabwe. There is probably a group for every topic under the sun from serious topics such as illegal forex trading to more mundane topics such as jokes. There are farming groups we know that have saved people thousands of dollars in potential losses and turned amateurs into master farmers. WhatsApp is awesome but it’s not perfect.

Perhaps its biggest flaw is that you can only use it on one device. While that is perfect for a lot of people there are times when being able to use WhatsApp on two devices is a good and desirable thing consider:

Businesses who want several support agents to be able to use the same number
You forget your phone at home but want to use your WhatsApp account from your computer
You want to message someone using WhatsApp but your phone’s battery is dead
Your phone is stolen and someone sends you a message during that time. You won’t be able to recover those messages when you register for WhatsApp using a new device.

In both cases you could use WhatsApp web which allows you to link your phone with a browser but it’s not perfect. For starters for this to work your phone needs to be on and connected to the internet. If your phone is off then all bets are off as you get stuck on the login screen.

This is all about to end

Those who have used Telegram know why people are always saying it’s superior to WhatsApp. You can use your browser or a desktop app to access your messages without the need for your phone to be on. Your account is not just linked to one device it stands on it’s own. Even if the original device you used to register gets lost or stolen you will still be able to use your Telegram account as if nothing has happened. All your messages are available.

Awesome as it is, Telegram is not going to be as popular as WhatsApp. The good news is that WhatsApp is going to introduce the same feature soon. According to WABetaInfo users will have the option to link the service with four devices including desktop apps that one can use on their computer. Even if your primary device is lost you can continue to use the other linked devices. Each device will have a copy of your messages and it means if you are a business four people can use the same WhatsApp account at the same time.

There is no clear timeline yet when it comes to when the feature will be released. There are rumours that GBWhatsApp (a modified version of WhatsApp) is already working on a similar feature that might be released soon. This feature is sorely needed in the world in which businesses are relying more and more on social media platforms to keep in touch with customers.