San Francisco, Jan 29 (IANS): Meta-owned WhatsApp's Head Will Cathcart has hinted that it may soon unveil an exclusive Apple iPad app, media report says.

Cathcart has a message for those who have been clamoring for a native iPad app: "don't give up hope", reports The Verge.

"People have wanted an iPad app for a long time," Cathcart told The Verge during an interview this week.

"We would love to do it," he added.

Like Instagram for the iPad, a version of WhatsApp for Apple's tablet has long eluded users despite being a heavily requested feature, the report said.

And while Cathcart would not go so far as to commit to the release of an iPad version, his comments suggest it is possible that one will be built soon, especially now that WhatsApp has built the underlying technology needed for such a client to work, it added.

"We did a lot of work on the technology for supporting multiple devices," Cathcart said, referencing the rollout of opt-in, multi-device support for WhatsApp last year.

"Our web and our desktop apps now have that. If I have a multi-device on, I can turn my phone off or lose my network connection and still get messages on my desktop. That would be really important for a tablet app, to be able to use the app even if your phone isn't on. So the underlying technology is there," he added.