WhatsApp has announced a fresh round of features aimed at making the Meta-owned app work more fully across devices, rather than just as a mobile messaging tool. The headline update improves its Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, previously limited to composing messages and placing calls, so drivers can now hear and reply to messages, view call history and access favourite contacts. Alongside this, WhatsApp is enabling standalone account sign-ups on iPad, status sharing from music apps, and in-app PDF viewing and light editing.

Users can now register a WhatsApp account directly through the iPad app rather than linking it to a phone, though a phone number is still required to receive the initial verification code; once set up, the iPad account runs independently rather than as a companion device. Other additions include sharing songs from Apple Music or Spotify to a WhatsApp Status, and opening PDFs within chats on web and desktop without downloading them, with options to highlight and annotate. The rollout, announced on Wednesday, follows recent additions such as usernames (to share profiles without a phone number) and the paid "WhatsApp Plus" subscription tier launched in late May.