Re:Ask HN: How does web.whatsapp.com work?
by pducks32 on Wednesday January 28, 2015 @01:11PM
(#8961457)
(Note: I have an iPhone and so can't test it myself, but I can read the client js code)
My guess is that they are routed through the phone. That's certainly something that Apple would have a hard time allowing which might explain the android onlyness. They are clearly using WebSockets and the phone receives messages but only in so far as the phone. For a E2E encryption they would have to routed through the phone, which it seems they are from the look of their code. Again only guessing, someone should packet sniff it and lmk.
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Based on your speculations I'd say that the QRCode is the IP adress of the WebApp + some kind of token.
Scanning it allows the phone to connect to the browser and act as a proxy to transfer messages?