WhatsApp now has a dedicated app on iPad. It is arriving 16 years after the initial release of WhatsApp.

Available to download from the App Store, the iPad app will have many of the same features as the iPhone version, allowing users to join audio and video calls with up to 32 people, use both the front and back cameras, and share screen with other participants on a call.

WhatsApp for iPad will support many of the iPadOS features, such as Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over to view multiple apps at once, “so you can send messages while browsing the web, or research options for a group trip while on a call together”. It will also work with Magic Keyboard.

So far, WhatsApp users have had to use the web version on iPad’s browser. In 2022, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said that Meta would “love” to develop a native iPadOS WhatsApp experience, but it obviously has taken a long time.

In a statement, Apple said: “Our extra layers of privacy, such as chat lock, mean that you can have private conversations in confidence even if you share your iPad with others.”

Stage Manager is available on iPad Pro with M4, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) and iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air 11-inch (M2 and later), iPad Air 13-inch (M2 and later).

Meta is apparently also working on an Instagram app for iPad. At the moment, Instagram and iPad don’t see eye to eye in terms of aesthetics.