Download Meta’s redesigned, much faster WhatsApp Mac app with support for group audio and video calling, drag and drop, large screens and more.
On August 29, 2023, Meta released a new WhatsApp experience for the Mac to succeed its pretty awful Electron-powered desktop software. The new WhatsApp Mac app is built using Catalyst, Apple’s framework for porting iOS apps to the Mac.
Catalyst supports standard platform features such as spell-checking, fullscreen and drag and drop that the Electron-powered WhatsApp has never had.
The new app is available from the WhatsApp website and will come to the App Store “soon.” The software requires macOS Big Sur 11.0 or later.
Meta launches a redesigned WhatsApp Mac app
Unlike the Electron version, this new Catalyst-powered WhatsApp edition supports the features from the mobile version that weren’t available on the old desktop app.
These include group calling, which is available in WhatsApp for Mac for the first time and brings the app on par with FaceTime, Telegram and other desktop messaging apps. You can create a group video call for up to eight participants simultaneously and an audio one with up to 32 people simultaneously.
If someone else started a group call, you can now join it from your Mac, too. With the old app, you couldn’t join in-progress group calls.
Next, you can see your call history and opt to receive incoming call notifications. Drag and drop now works, too, so you can simply drop your attachments in a chat. Also, WhatsApp now supports the Mac’s fullscreen mode natively:
The app is redesigned to be familiar to Mac users, helping you get more done faster when using WhatsApp on a large screen. You can now share files by easily dragging and dropping into a chat, and can view more of your chat history.
Like all other WhatsApp versions, the new app uses end-to-end encryption to keep your personal messages and calls private across devices.
How to download the redesigned WhatsApp Mac app
You can download the redesigned WhatsApp version from the official website at whatsapp.com/download. After downloading the installer, double-click the .DMG file in your Downloads folder to unpack it, then drag the app to your Applications folder.
If you already have the Electron or beta version of WhatsApp installed on your Mac, uninstall it first by deleting it from the Applications folder before installing the new Catalyst version of the app. Unfortunately, there is no option to update the old Electron app or WhatsApp Beta to the latest Catalyst version.
WhatsApp for macOS requires macOS Big Sur 11.0 or later.