Although there is no official WhatsApp app for the Apple Watch, you can still manage your WhatsApp messages directly from your Apple Watch. Fortunately, you can get WhatsApp on your Apple Watch by downloading the Watchchat 2 or WatchsApp for WhatsApp from the App store, though these apps require a subscription to get access to the full features. However, in this guide, I’ll show you how to connect WhatsApp to Apple Watch so that you can receive and reply to messages directly from the watch.
Note that you will not receive notification alerts when your iPhone screen is on. You will only get a message notification on the Apple Watch when you are wearing or holding the watch and your iPhone screen is turned off. If you own an Apple Watch cellular model, you will be able to receive and reply to messages without your phone.
How to Connect WhatsApp to Apple Watch
To connect Whatsapp to the Apple Watch, you need to turn on notifications for WhatsApp messages from the settings and watch apps on your iPhone.
- Enable notifications for WhatsApp
- Configure WhatsApp Notifications Settings
- Enable WhatsApp Notifications in Watch App
The first thing to do is to enable notifications for WhatsApp. To do this, go to the settings app on your iPhone, navigate to notifications, locate WhatsApp and toggle it on.
Next, scroll down further and tap on WhatsApp Notification Settings and toggle on notifications for messages and group notifications.
Now that you have enabled notifications for WhatsApp from the settings app, you need to also grant the Apple Watch access to receive WhatsApp messages. To do this, open the Watch app, tap on notifications and navigate to WhatsApp, below “mirror phone alerts” and toggle it on.
You have successfully connected WhatsApp to the Apple Watch, so when you receive a WhatsApp message and your iPhone screen is off, you will be alerted on the Apple Watch.
Receiving and Replying to WhatsApp Messages on Apple Watch
When you receive a WhatsApp message on the Apple Watch, you have the option to reply with your voice, emojis, preset quick replies or type it directly using the built-in keyboard.
A few things to note is that you won’t be able to listen to Whatsapp audio messages on the Apple Watch and you won’t be able to see images clearly. Though you will see that you have received an image, but it won’t be clear. You will also see that you have received a voice note, but you can only listen to it on your iPhone. Nonetheless, the reply functions work properly well.
Download WhatsApp to Apple Watch
If you want to be able to do more like, listen to audio messages and view images clearly on the Apple Watch, then you will need to install WhatsApp on the Apple Watch. There are a handful of apps that lets you do this, the two I have tried are Watchchat 2 and WatchsApp for WhatsApp. These apps will let you start a WhatsApp conversation from the Apple Watch, you will also be able to listen to audio notes, see images from both personal and group chats. However, there is a caveat, you need to subscribe to access all the awesome features.