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WhatsApp has announced that its Windows 11 app is ditching its native UWP (WinUI) framework in favor of a Chromium-based WebView. This means the app will now be powered by web technologies.
The change has sparked mixed reactions, with some users appreciating the potential benefits of a unified codebase, while others lament the loss of native app performance and reliability. According to tests, the new WebView-based WhatsApp app uses approximately 30% more RAM than its native counterpart.
Meta’s decision to switch to WebView2, a Chromium-based engine, allows for easier maintenance and a single codebase that works across platforms. However, this comes at the cost of performance and reliability, which are typically hallmarks of native apps.
The move is seen as a step back for WhatsApp’s Windows 11 app, which had previously maintained feature parity with its Android and iOS counterparts. As WhatsApp’s user base continues to grow, the impact of this change on the app’s overall performance and user experience remains to be seen.
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