The messaging app - which is owned by Facebook parent company Meta - is coming to Apple's App store soon, but is available to download via the WhatsApp website.

In a post on his Instagram broadcast channel on Tuesday (29.08.23), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote: "Launching a new WhatsApp app for Mac. Group calls up to 8 people on video and 32 on audio."

It comes as part of a continued bid to compete with the likes of video conferencing platform Zoom.

WhatsApp has already launched a desktop app on Windows, with both desktop apps featuring end-to-end encryption of calls and chats.

WhatsApp for Mac requires macOS 11 or later.

In terms of new features, users will be able to receive incoming call notifications while the app is closed, while you can also drag and drop files into a chat to share them.

It comes after WhatsApp introduced screen sharing for video calls, with other new features over the past few months including locking intimate chats, editing sent messages, instant video messages and being able to move messages to a new phone.