[Update: APK Download] First look at WhatsApp Business: Android app, landline number registration & Multiple accounts options

Whatsapp Inc has launched its latest android apps latest APK, Named as "WhatsApp Business" (in the Google Play Store). If you want to download the latest version 2.18.9 APK from this app then click on the download link provided at the bottom of this article. The WhatsApp Business app is currently in beta, meaning it can have multiple bugs, so developers request feedback from initial users about business account setup, data migration from one WhatsApp account to an automated response account, and other data analysis.

Although we have been hearing about WhatsApp Business forever, this service was officially announced one month ago and if you look at the FAQ page, you will see a survey where you can sign up to test WhatsApp Business. I miss that very much, but reader Hüseyin Filiz proposed and thanked him, we saw our first WhatsApp Business.

The service is still under testing, so WhatsApp requests feedback from preliminary testers about account setup, data migration from the WhatsApp app, automated responses, and their existing analysis.

As far as the name of this app is concerned, we can easily guess that this app is made for business. WhatsApp Business Application has a B alphabet in a green logo and looks really cool. The UI of both applications is similar but under the settings tab, users will find some new options that include Business Settings and Statistics. But there is one drawback that should be noted by users of other mobile numbers for WhatsApp Business applications.

As far as the name of this app is concerned, we can easily guess that this app is made for business. WhatsApp Business Application has a B alphabet in a green logo and looks really cool. The UI of both applications is similar but under the settings tab, users will find some new options that include Business Settings and Statistics. But there is one drawback that should be noted by users of other mobile numbers for WhatsApp Business applications.

Manage Personal and Business accounts

The app will become a standalone list on the Play Store making it easier for account managers who want to separate their private and business conversations. WhatsApp explains how to manage these two accounts depends on several scenarios. If you are a small business and you are intrigued about how things will work, I suggest you read the details on the slide below.

What interests me most is the support of home phone numbers. As far as I know, WhatsApp does not support it now, so it's amazing to see it coming. Many of my patients / customers want to contact me about WhatsApp and so far I have to give them my personal phone number. It may be inconvenient to move them back to home phone numbers, but at least I can give new subscriber home numbers and avoid sending messages to me through my personal numbers.

The ability to simultaneously install both applications should be highly accepted by small business owners like me who often receive job notifications at night, or who always lose what to do when friends rain with messages during working hours or when their clients ping continuously during closing hours. Having separate private and business chats in two apps should alleviate the headaches of all those management.

Android app

Android apps can be found in the Play Store at this link. You probably will not be able to see it because you need to be a Beta tester and it is still a private beta testing program. It has the same icon as WhatsApp, but the phone icon is replaced by a capital letter B - check the image at the top of this post to see it.

Once downloaded, the app looks the same as WhatsApp, except for one change: the title bar says WhatsApp Business. There is a tab for your camera (and thus the status of the cool image), chats, status, and calls. These are all standard rates. Changes will start appearing as you go to Settings. There you will find two new sections for Business and Statistics settings.

Statistics are pretty basic now. You get total messages sent, sent, read, and received. This is not the kind of "analysis" I expect in a Business messaging app, but this may be just the beginning. More stats hopefully coming soon to help you understand your customer engagement, responsiveness to messages, and other key metrics for business. As for Business settings, they have two main parts now: your profile and remote messages. We will explore each of these separately below.

Profile of your business

Your business profile profile has a broad profile picture, your business name, a Verified / Unverified status badge, and any other data you enter. This is basically what your customers will see when they add you and try to contact you.

Tap the pencil icon at the top right and you can change the details. This includes adding locations, categories / tags, your business description, email addresses, and one or more website addresses that you want to direct people to.

The actual category is quite extensive so technically you have to find something to describe your business. Otherwise, there are others that are always there to choose from.

Away Message

Remote messages are the automatic response customers will get when they try to reach you and you're unavailable. You can set it for on, off, or schedule.

Messages can be personalized to include the text you want (+ emoji!). As for scheduling, this is pretty simple now. You can set a start and end date and time, but I hope it will improve. Repeating options such as everyday or every Saturday and Sunday for example should be possible, that way you do not have to turn it on manually every night or every weekend.

And that's what we've found so far different between WhatsApp Business and regular apps. For the most part, the rest of the app does not change, but there may be more hidden features for the business only when you start a chat or get a notification eg.

From the customer side

When your customers add your business phone number and try to achieve it, they will see a yellow briefing for end-to-end encryption (also happens with regular private chat) as well as pop-up and yellow briefings that they talk to business accounts and have not yet verified. If they check your profile, they'll see all the details you've manually applied in your business profile: image, verification status, location, category, email address, web address, and so on.

So what do you think? Probably WhatsApp Business is not something you would use a lot, but if you live in a country where everything happens in WhatsApp, you'll definitely find a business that uses it at some point and maybe you have thoughts about how it should be: Handle this transition to a Business account.

As a small business owner, I like what I see. I am very surprised by the addition of ground support and the possibilities of account management, but I expect better analysis, better scheduling, and more useful features in the future.

You can not download WhatsApp Business right now (and we can not do it either) but you can sign up to test it here. Once you've done so, and if you're lucky enough to be accepted into the exam, you'll need to find apps in the Play Store at this address.

Also Read  : 

• HowTo Flash Nokia 8 To Smartphone Android 8.0 Oreo Official UPdatE
• Free Download Last Day On Earth Survival Version 1.7.2 APK for Android
• Eclipse X Brings the Right Darkness Mode to iOS 11 required by iPhone X