WhatsApp Coexistence
Keep the app.
Add your team.
Coexistence connects the number your business already runs on the WhatsApp Business app to Archus Lab. The app keeps working exactly as it does today — and every conversation also lands in a shared inbox the whole team can answer, with months of history already in place.
- Your number
- Unchanged — the one customers already message
- The app
- Keeps working on the phone, side by side
- Your history
- Up to 180 days syncs in, if you choose to share it
- Setup
- About 15 minutes. No code, no downtime
The idea
What is WhatsApp Coexistence?
Meta's official way to run the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform on the same number, at the same time.
Until Coexistence, a business that outgrew the WhatsApp Business app faced a bad trade: move the number to the API and lose the app — deleting it, and starting the inbox empty — or keep the app and stay limited to one phone. Coexistence, Meta's name for onboarding WhatsApp Business app users onto the platform, removes the trade. The number stays registered in the app on your phone and connects to the Business Platform, so your team answers together in Archus Lab while the phone keeps doing what it always did.
Messages you send from the phone appear in the shared inbox seconds later — edits and deletions included — so the app and the inbox never tell different stories.
One more thing worth knowing: Coexistence runs through Meta's Embedded Signup, which only a WhatsApp Business solution provider's app can operate. However a vendor styles itself, this path exists because a provider stands behind it — that is the role Archus Lab plays, and we play it in the open.
| Business app alone | API alone | Coexistence — both | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can answer | One phone, up to four linked devices | The whole team, individual logins | The whole team — and the phone still works |
| Existing chat history | Lives only on the phone | Left behind — you start empty | Up to 180 days syncs in, your choice |
| The app itself | Is the whole workflow | Deleted — the number leaves the app | Keeps working alongside the inbox |
| Templates to opted-in contacts | Broadcast lists, capped at 256, no consent record | Yes | Yes — with consent recorded per contact |
| Automation with human handover | Greetings and away messages only | Yes | Yes — and any customer can still reach a person |
Setup guide · about 15 minutes
How to connect your WhatsApp Business app number.
Yes — the same number can run the app and the platform at once. Five steps, no code, and the number never stops answering.
Before you start, have ready:
- The phone that runs your WhatsApp Business app, in hand
- WhatsApp Business app version 2.24.17 or newer
- Your own Meta (Facebook) login for the business — we never see it
- A decision you will make on the phone: share existing chat history, or not
Create your Archus Lab workspace
Sign up, name the workspace, and invite the teammates who answer messages. Roles decide who can manage templates and settings; everyone else just answers.
Choose “Keep using your WhatsApp Business app”
Click Connect WhatsApp. Meta's Embedded Signup window opens under your own Meta login — the connection is between you and Meta, and we never see your password. Pick the option to keep your existing WhatsApp Business app number, and enter that number.
Approve it on your phone
WhatsApp delivers a code to your number from Meta's official Facebook Business account. In the app, tap Connect to the Business Platform, choose whether to share your existing chat history — that decision is made on your phone, not by us — and enter the code back in the signup window. The app stays registered and active throughout.
Watch history and contacts sync in
The syncs start automatically the moment the connection completes. Your phone's contact list and — if you chose to share it — up to 180 days of chat history stream into the workspace. Progress shows on the channel page within minutes, and most workspaces finish within a few hours. One housekeeping task while it runs: add a payment method in Meta's WhatsApp Manager. Meta bills your business directly for conversation charges — we never sit in the middle of that bill.
Answer together
Inbound messages land in the shared queue — assign them, note them, resolve them. Replies sent from the phone show up in the thread seconds later, so the app and the inbox never diverge. Templates go only to contacts with a recorded opt-in, checked at send time, and any customer can reach a person by typing agent.
The fine print
What stays, what changes, and the one habit that matters.
Coexistence has real rules. We would rather you read them here than discover them later.
Open the app at least once every two weeks. Meta disconnects a Coexistence number after roughly fourteen days without activity on the phone. For most front desks the app is in daily use anyway; just keep it installed and part of the routine. If the connection ever lapses, the channel page says exactly what happened and why, and reconnecting is the same short flow you followed above.
Stays yours and working
- Your number and display name — nothing customers see changes
- Your WhatsApp Business Account, owned in your own Meta Business Manager
- The app and its chats — replies from the phone mirror into the inbox, edits and deletions included
- Your billing relationship with Meta — conversation charges are billed to you directly, with no relay through us
Switched off by WhatsApp on connected numbers
- Broadcast lists in the app
- Disappearing messages
- View-once photos and videos
- Live location sharing
Also worth knowing: messages sent from WhatsApp for Windows or Wear OS do not sync to the platform, and Coexistence availability by country follows Meta policy. Where it is not offered, you can still connect a new number the standard way — everything else on this site applies unchanged.
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Coexistence.
Can we keep using the WhatsApp Business app after connecting?
Yes — that is the point of Coexistence. The app stays registered and active on the phone, and everything sent from it appears in the shared inbox as it happens. Nothing about the phone workflow has to change on day one; the team inbox grows around it.
Do we lose our chat history?
No. During setup, on your phone, you choose whether to share history. If you share it, up to 180 days — about six months — of conversations sync into the workspace, usually within a few hours. If you don't, the inbox simply starts from the day you connect. Either way, nothing is deleted from the phone.
Does our number or display name change?
No. Customers keep messaging the number they already have, and your display name carries over. The WhatsApp Business Account stays in your own Meta Business Manager — you can disconnect at any time, and our access ends immediately. See Data deletion for exactly what happens then.
What happens if nobody opens the app for two weeks?
Meta treats roughly fourteen days of phone inactivity as abandonment and disconnects the Coexistence link. If that happens, the channel page explains the cause and the fix, and reconnecting is the same fifteen-minute flow. The reliable prevention is simple: keep the app installed and in the team's daily rotation.
What does WhatsApp messaging cost with Archus Lab?
Two separate bills, on purpose. Meta charges for template messages at its published rates, billed directly to the payment method you add in WhatsApp Manager — we never mark those up or sit in the middle. Replying to customers inside the 24-hour service window uses no templates and carries no Meta template charge. Archus Lab's platform fee is separate and quoted when you request access. The full breakdown, including what stays free, is on the pricing page.
What if Coexistence isn't available for our number?
Availability follows Meta policy by country, and the app must be version 2.24.17 or newer — the connect screen checks both before anything is touched. If your number isn't eligible, you can connect a new number through the standard flow instead: same inbox, same consent rules, just without the app running alongside.
Get started
Bring the number. Keep the app.
Archus Lab is onboarding businesses now. Tell us what your team answers today and we will walk you through Coexistence against your own workflow — most workspaces go from signed-up to answering in about fifteen minutes. Prefer reading first? Start with how the integration works.