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Comment by msravi | Hacker News Reader

In my phone I can go to Settings->Apps->Dual Apps and enable WhatsApp. This creates a clone of the app, which can be registered with a second number. When you open WhattsApp you can select which of the two you want to open. Have been using this for probably 2+ years now...

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> In my phone I can go to Settings->Apps->Dual Apps and enable WhatsApp.

Is that specific to some Android device manufacturer? I have a dual SIM Android phone with two SIMs, and I don't see that option.

It is specific to mostly non-Google OEMs.

On Pixel phones and other devices which don't support Dual Apps, you can create a "Work Profile". It is a completely isolated section of your phone and you can install another copy of Whatsapp by opening the playstore in your work profile.

https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/6191949?hl=en

It's there in Xiaomi and a few others. It essentially creates a separate sandboxed space for the entire phone. Apps, settings, themes, everything is isolated. Both the SIMs are accessible in either space.

AFAIK, this only works if you have 2 SIMs on your phone. If both SIMs stay in their respective phone, I can't enable dual apps.

p.s. also, this feature is Android only, I think.

I think I enabled this with a SIM in another phone and entered the SMS based OTP, but I can't be sure. In any case, right now I only have one SIM in the device, and the dual app continues to work without a problem.

Yes, it's Android. Not surprised that it doesn't work on iOS.

There are some bugs. Contacts that show up in one app doesn't show in the second one. At least that's my experience.

This is probably because that implementation of multiple apps is using the built-in Android Work features. That isolates contacts by default.

If you sync contacts into work mode, it should work.

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