For you heavy WhatsApp users, the company has officially announced that users can finally sign up for an account directly on the iPad app, eliminating the need to link a phone during the initial setup.

I tried this myself once I downloaded the latest update from the App Store, and while I still had to provide and verify a phone number, I didn’t have to link it to WhatsApp on my phone. So, this seems to be working as intended. It’s great to see the iPad app becoming even more of a standalone client for those that want that

This update also brings a revamped experience for CarPlay and Android Auto, and the ability to open and annotate PDFs directly within chats without downloading them.

Link: WhatsApp blog