Facebook's WhatsApp Released for Laptop, Desktop Computers

WhatsApp, one of the world's most popular chat services, is already making its way to laptop and desktop computers alike, although the Web version is expected to perform well only with Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone.

Bought by Facebook for over $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp now enables users to exchange messages using an official website, other than its existing mobile apps. This will allow the company to expand its reach to a wide range of devices and will emphasize Facebook's goal in working towards enhancing global communications.

With over 600 million users worldwide, WhatsApp has already been recognized as one of the largest social chat services in the world. Its expansion to another platform will enable the company to make its services more available to users.

Despite Facebook keeping mum about its recent decision to expand WhatsApp, tech experts have already expressed agreement in possible underlying reasons, such as the easier use of a keyboard in writing messages as opposed to using a smartphone. Images and videos can also be easily saved using a computer whereas WhatsApp alerts appearing on computers are expected to save a lot of time.

Aside from WhatsApp, a similar venture is also being undertaken by iMessage, Apple's only chat service. While the iMessage began as an application developed solely for mobile devices, Apple has already brought the chat service to desktop computers.

Other chat services such as Hangouts by Google and Skype from Microsoft are also currently available for various devices. Despite the differences in approaches, the chat service has become one of the most popular trends among tech giants that seek to make a connection across devices and platforms using one service.

Following the launch of the WhatsApp Web service last Wednesday, the company explained that the chat service will "mirror" messages on the smartphone app while customers can easily log in using their mobile device.

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum also explained that the chat service cannot work yet with the Apple iPhone due to "platform limitations."