A step-by-step guide to using WhatsApp on your desktop

Follow these steps to have WhatsApp up and running in your web browser in a jiffy.

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Did you read that story about how you can use WhatsApp on your desktop now? Turns out that setting that feature up involves a few quick steps. Follow them and you'll be up and running in a jiffy.

What you need:

- An Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone or a Nokia S60 smartphone. No iPhones supported yet (we feel your pain, Apple users).

- The latest version of WhatsApp on your device. Head to the app store on whatever device you're using and grab the update.

- A working internet connection.

How to do it:

- Launch Google Chrome on your computer. WhatsApp on the desktop only works in Chrome. If you don't have the browser -- and seriously, why don't you? -- download it here.

- Head to https://web.WhatsApp.com

- See that QR code with the WhatsApp logo buried cleverly in the centre? You need to scan that with your phone to pair WhatsApp on your phone with the web version of WhatsApp. How do you scan it? Launch the Menu in WhatsApp and you'll see a shiny new entry for 'WhatsApp Web' in there. Tap it to launch your camera. Point the scanner at the QR code. You're set!

WhatsApp on the desktop is pretty neat. You can start new chats right from your computer without ever having to pick up your phone as long as your phone is online. And because WhatsApp on the web is simply an extension of the smartphone app, all your messages still live on your phone anyway, so you won't miss a thing if you switch back and forth between your phone and your computer. Oh, you can also turn on desktop notifications on your browser to get message alerts even when your Chrome is minimised -- handy.