WhatsApp drops its UWP native app in favor of a Chromium web wrapper on Windows 11
WhatsApp is discontinuing its native Universal Windows Platform (UWP) application on Windows 11 and moving to a Chromium-based container, using Microsoft’s Edge WebView2 technology. This marks a significant shift in user experience and app technology, as the new version essentially packages the WhatsApp web client for the Windows desktop.
Following this transition, users will notice a different interface, a simplified settings menu, and changes in how notifications are delivered. The switch means the app no longer integrates seamlessly with Windows 11’s look and feel, making it feel less like a native part of the operating system.
Alongside these visual changes, there is a functional impact: the Chromium-based app tends to use more RAM and delivers somewhat reduced performance compared to the previous native UWP version. For regular WhatsApp users on Windows, this may lead to increased memory usage and slower operation.
While this approach allows Meta to maintain a single code base across platforms and adopt features from WhatsApp Web more rapidly, it comes at the cost of a less optimized Windows experience. Some new features from the web version are now available, but the app sacrifices deep Windows integration and efficiency in the process.
Comments
Sad face 😔 I like the app as it is now
WhatsApp idk why but is getting much worse lately and Telegram is much better, but WhatsApp has the fame. And few people or groups use Telegram or other alternatives.
I don't what need to happen to see a big transition of people abandoning WhatsApp and moving to Telegram.
Signal has a smaller group of users. And for me the other alternative is SimpleX Chat.
Also, as WebView2 is another instance of Edge (without the UI), it's updated regularly (though a tool called Evergreen) which can explain CPU spikes on daily basis even when no app is using it. Uninstalling Edge doesn't remove WebView2, the Runtime must be manually removed (and still would be re-installed automatically by any app need it).
Ahhh that sucks. I use the UWP app and it was actually quite good and fast 🤦♂️