WhatsApp Business for iPhone Launched in Beta for Small Businesses

HIGHLIGHTS

·         WhatsApp Business was originally launched in January 2018

·         WhatsApp Business for iPhone beta is now available globally

·         The app helps businesses interact with their consumers

The beta version of "WhatsApp Business" -- a free-to-download communication tool specifically designed for small businesses -- has been made available for iPhone users.

"After the launch of the official WhatsApp Business for Android, which is a compatible version for iOS and a lot of users had asked, today it is finally available in beta," WABetaInfo, a fan site that tests new WhatsApp features reported on Friday. 

Launched in January 2018, "WhatsApp Business" had only been made available on Android devices until now.

In a tint colour of darker blue, the beta app for iPhone includes "Messaging Tools" for businesses like automated greeting and away messages, quick replies and the "Recipients" feature was also set to allow users to choose specific recipients for a particular message.

Along with the option allowing users to migrate their existing WhatsApp accounts and contacts to a "WhatsApp Business" account, the app also enables users to customise their business profiles and configure business hours with options in the Edit menu. 

This beta version is available for all the countries, the report added. 

WhatsApp Business has an active user base of more than five million people, the company had announced in January.  The platform is used by businesses to support customers, grow their businesses and serve their communities all over the world. 

Last month, the chat app had introduced a number of new features for the WhatsApp Business users. Available on the desktop and Web, these features included quick replies, labels, and chat list filtering. 

WhatsApp Business competes with the likes of Apple's Business Chat and RCS messaging for Android and Facebook's own Messenger Platform.