In the end, you too have succumbed to the temptation to buy a smartphone. You have even installed WhatsApp, the famous messaging application owned by Facebook, but your relationship with the mobile phone continues to be quite "hostile". Now, for example, you should update WhatsApp to activate a new feature your colleagues have told you so much about, but you can't figure out how to do it. Quiet! I'm here to give you a hand.
If you can't figure out the steps to take to install the latest version of WhatsApp and / or you don't know how to activate the automatic app update system, don't worry, take five minutes of free time and read the instructions I am to give you will find out how to do it. Whether you have an Android smartphone, an iPhone or a Windows Phone, it doesn't matter, below you will find all the answers you are looking for.
As for the price to pay to get the new versions of WhatsApp, fear not, everything is done for free. Whatever the chains of Saint Anthony say and the fake news that circulate on the Net from time to time, WhatsApp has no subscription fee (it had it until a few years ago, but now it has been completely removed) and has no functionality from unlock for a fee. Once this aspect has been clarified, don't waste any more time, roll up your sleeves immediately and find out how to update WhatsApp for free!
Update WhatsApp for free on Android
If you have an Android smartphone, the first step you need to take for update WhatsApp for free is to start the Play Store by pressing on its icon on the home screen or in the list of apps installed on the phone (the shopping bag with the ▶ symbol in the center).
Once the Play Store has started, press the button ≡ located at the top left, select the wording Le mie app ei miei giochi from the bar that appears on the side and look for the WhatsApp icon in the section Install.
After doing this, if the wording appears next to the name of the app Updating, it means that there is an update available. Then press on the WhatsApp icon, then on the buttons Update e Accept and the update will be completed automatically. If, on the other hand, next to the name of the application there is the writing Installed it means you don't need to update WhatsApp for free and you're already using the latest software version.
An update system is available on Android which, when available, automatically downloads the latest versions of apps. Generally this system is active by default, but in some cases it can be deactivated leading to the failure to install updates.
To check if the app update system is still active on your smartphone, start the Play Store, presses the button ≡ located at the top left selects the item Settings from the bar that appears on the side. In the screen that opens, select the item Automatic app update, put the check mark next to the option Automatic app update via Wi-Fi only (so that the updates are downloaded only in Wi-Fi and not in 3G / LTE in order not to consume data) and that's it.
Finally, open the dedicated WhatsApp page on the Play Store again, press the button (...) located at the top right and make sure there is a check mark next to the item Automatic update. If it's not there, put it on yourself.
Alternative method
Is there no Google Play Store on your smartphone? Obviously this is a cheap and / or import phone that for licensing reasons does not have Google services pre-installed. To bypass the problem and update WhatsApp you need to download the application from its official website and install it "manually" via the apk package.
Then start Chrome or any other browser there is installed on your smartphone, connected to the page whatsapp.com/android and presses the button Download Now to start downloading the WhatsApp installation package. If you are asked for confirmation to download the file, press on OK and choose your browser as the application to download with.
At the end of the download, although it should not be necessary, I recommend that you check the activation of support for apps downloaded from unknown sources, that is, outside the Play Store, on your phone. Then go to the menu Settings> Security Android, select the item Safety from the menu that appears and, if necessary, activate the option Unknown origin.
Next, launch the application Download or any other file manager installed on your device (eg ES File Manager), search for the file WhatsApp.apk in the folder of Download e pulsing sul pulsating Install to complete the app installation.
Upgrade to WhatsApp beta
On Android it is also possible to install non-definitive versions of WhatsApp, the so-called beta versions which contain experimental functions not yet introduced in the stable one. It is not recommended for everyone as these releases can be quite unstable, but if you are interested I can explain how to do it anyway. Find all the steps you need to take right below. The procedure can only be carried out if the smartphone is present on the Google Play Store.
- Open the WhatsApp page on the Play Store, scroll the screen to the bottom and press the button Yes placed under the heading Become a beta tester.
- In the box that opens, tap on the button Participate and proceed with the installation of WhatsApp Beta by pressing the button Install / Upgrade from the Play Store (the update may not be available immediately, sometimes you have to try again after a few minutes).
In case of second thoughts, you can abandon the beta testing of WhatsApp by returning to the application page in the Play Store, scrolling the screen to the bottom and pressing the button Abandon.
Update WhatsApp for free on iPhone
If you're using an iPhone, you can update WhatsApp for free in a few simple steps. For starters, start App Store pressing the blue icon with the letter "A" located on the home screen. Next, press the tab Updates located at the bottom right, locate the icon of WhatsApp and press the button Update located next to the application name. This way, if there is an update available for WhatsApp, it will be installed instantly on the phone.
If you don't see the update button next to the WhatsApp name, you do see the button apri to open the application, it means that the latest version of the app is already installed on your iPhone. If then the WhatsApp icon is totally absent from the card Updates, the application has already been updated recently and there are no new updates to apply.
If you had to manually start the search for updates for WhatsApp, the iOS automatic update system may not be active. To deal with this, go to the menu Settings iOS (the gear icon on the home screen), move to iTunes Store and App Store and set on ON the relative levetta all'opzione Updates.
Also make sure that the toggle for the option Use cellular data is deactivated. In this way you will avoid the risk of consuming data traffic for downloading app updates (which could “drain” your gigabytes in just a few minutes!).
Update WhatsApp for free on Windows Phone smartphones
If you have a Windows Phone-based smartphone and want to find out how to update WhatsApp for free, the first operation you need to do is to select the tile of the Windows Phone Store from Start Screen (the shopping bag icon with the Windows flag printed in the center).
Successively, pigia sul pulsating (...) che si trova in basso a destra e seleciona la voce settings from the menu that appears below. In the screen that opens, make sure that the option levers are activated Update apps automatically e Update with Wi-Fi only and presses the button look for updates.
Doing as I just told you, if there are any updates available for WhatsApp or other applications installed on your smartphone, they will be installed instantly. Furthermore, you will have activated the automatic search and installation of updates only via Wi-Fi (in order to have all the apps always updated without consuming data traffic).
How to update WhatsApp for free on PC
As you surely know and as I also explained to you in my tutorial on how to use WhatsApp on PC, there is an official client that allows you to use WhatsApp on your computer as well. Unfortunately it is not independent from the app on the smartphone, but it is definitely useful.
The update of the PC version of WhatsApp should be automatic but, if you want, you can activate the installation of the beta (therefore potentially unstable preview versions) of the application by selecting the appropriate item from the menu Help (on Windows) or from the menu WhatsApp (on macOS). Please, use this function only if you know where to put your hands!
In case of second thoughts, you can reinstall the standard version of the WhatsApp client by uninstalling the latter from your PC and reinstalling it via its official website.
