[Wear OS General] bernarbernuli:
WhatsApp, everything you can do on Wear OS

WhatsApp does not have an official version for Wear OS at the moment, however, there are still a few ways to use WhatsApp from the watch. Many of them are well known to everyone (especially since the notifications, of course), but I thought it would be interesting to gather all the ways I know.

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1. From the watch notifications:​

From the notifications, you can interact in various ways with WhatsApp (as long as the watch is paired to an Android phone). Wear OS is pretty good at managing notifications, and in the case of WhatsApp notifications they work especially well. The truth is that all the basics can be done, and there are a few functions that can't, such as video calls or voice notes. It must also be said is that all the functions you can perform from the watch depend on someone having written you before:​

Read WhatsApp messages that the WhatsApp phone has received.

Mark a message as read.

View photos and stickers received by the phone's WhatsApp.

Reply to messages:

With predefined replies.

Manually, with the keyboard, or by dictating the message (voice to text).

With emojis, you will have to draw it to send the emoji you are looking for.

Receive notification of WhatsApp voice calls and accept them (for now, only in Wear OS 3).

2. From Google Assistant:

From the Google Assistant on the watch, you can send messages to a specific person with the following voice command:​

Send a WhatsApp to Susana, Let's meet at 3 o'clock.

Currently, this does not work properly on Wear OS 2, but it does work on Wear OS 3, i.e. Galaxy Watch 4/5 and future watches with Wear OS 3 will be able to take advantage of this feature.​

3. Using third-party apps (Companion):​

These types of Apps are not full versions of WhatsApp, they are add-ons that modify and enhance Wear OS notification panel.​

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a. Informer, with this app you can receive messages (and reply to them), receive photos, receive stickers, and more:​

Receive and view videos and GIFs (GW4 only).

Receive WhatsApp voice call notifications.

Receive and listen to voice messages (premium version only).

Accept WhatsApp calls and video calls (premium version only).

Unfortunately, receiving WhatsApp voice messages and calls is only available in the Premium subscription version (€0.99/month or €6.49/year). For it to work you must install the app on the phone and watch.​

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b. Messages for Wear OS, is another third-party app, you can also view the photos and videos you receive via WhatsApp, as well as view hyperlinks, open links in a web browser or even open YouTube links. Although the app also has a premium version, all the functions for WhatsApp are available in the Free version. Like the Informer app, the phone version and the watch version must also be installed.​

4. Using third-party apps (WhatsApp Web multi-device):​

This type of app takes advantage of the WhatsApp Web service. This feature, launched by WhatsApp in 2015 and updated in 2021, allows you to use your WhatsApp account on PC, Mac, Linux or also on Wear OS watches. The service can work independently of the phone (you can be away from the phone or even have it turned off). It is only necessary to link through a QR code the watch app with WhatsApp on the phone and ready, you can see in real time and synchronized messages, images and more on the watch.​

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WhatsWatch, is currently the only functional app that is based on WhatsApp Web Multi-device, however, is paid (€3.59). With the app you can access all your conversations (and see all messages, photos and videos received, or listen to voice messages), also send text messages and voice messages. The interface is a bit ugly, but it is expected to be much more visual in future updates.​

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I have not found more projects that are based on WhatsApp Web. There are projects that are based on this service, but not aimed at Wear OS, such as WhatsApp Web To Go. Taking into account that the official WhatsApp client is not Open Source and you can not create forks of WhatsApp for Android on Wear OS, I consider that the development of Apps that use the WhatsApp Web service in an app for Wear OS is the most interesting way to have WhatsApp almost complete on the watch.​

5. With WhatsApp app for Android in Wear OS:​

Finally, there is a trick to install and use an official Android version of WhatsApp on the watch. This version is almost fully functional on the watch: you can send and receive messages, view full conversations, watch videos, listen to voice memos and send them, make WhatsApp calls; however, curiously it does not allow you to pick up WhatsApp calls you receive (the solution is to call back the contact who just called).​

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Using an Android version on the watch has three (albeit salvageable) drawbacks:​

You cannot use the same phone number as the WhatsApp number on your phone. WhatsApp, for now, is not multi-device (unlike Telegram), this means that you cannot register WhatsApp on your phone and on your watch at the same time. The solution would be to hire a new phone number with a low cost phone operator that has no monthly fees (only calls and data expenses) and register WhatsApp from the watch with that number, in this way, you can use this WhatsApp client, if the watch also has 4G/LTE connectivity you can receive and send messages (and the rest of the features of WhatsApp for Android), for example, when you are away from the phone doing sports you could send urgent WhatsApp to what would be the "WhatsApp from the watch".

The WhatsApp screen is not optimized for Wear OS and there are parts that are not seen, it is logical, this app was not designed for such small screens. You can decrease the screen density with ADB commands: "adb shell wm density 240". To return to default density type "adb shell wm density reset".

You cannot start a conversation directly by opening the app on the watch, you must use a "bridge" app (step 5) or receive a message to be able to open WhatsApp.

The steps to follow to use the full version of WhatsApp are as follows:​

Download latest version of WhatsApp from APKMirror, you must download armeabi-v7a variant.

Install the APK file from the phone using Bugjaeger method, or from the PC via ADB commands.

On the watch, go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > App Permissions > WhatsApp and grant all permissions, also go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > App Notifications > Show All > WhatsApp and enable notifications.

Open the app and register your phone number (must be different from the phone's WhatsApp), once the registration is finished, WhatsApp will close and does not allow you to open it from the WhatsApp icon.

Install Voz a Texto app from Play Store. Open the app, press the microphone icon and dictate a message, accept and then press the share icon, then press the WhatsApp icon and select the contact.

From here you will be able to see the entire conversation, and send messages, voice notes, images, videos, locations, or initiate a WhatsApp call.