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Journalism of Courage
WhatsApp is testing a new username feature that will allow users to communicate with others without sharing their phone numbers. The new Instagram-like feature will enhance user privacy since they won’t have to share their personal number.
First spotted by WABetaInfo a few days ago on the beta version of WhatsApp for Android, it looks like the Meta-owned platform is now rolling out the new feature to select beta users on iOS.
Going by the screenshot shared by the publication, the option to set a WhatsApp username can be accessed from the app’s profile page. It looks like the username field will accept a combination of alphanumeric characters along with some special characters. However, every username on the platform will need to be unique.
If someone starts a chat with a person’s username, the phone number linked to that account will stay hidden unless the other person shares it with them. The report also suggests WhatsApp will allow both individuals and businesses to choose the username of their choice. Similar to normal WhatsApp chats, conversations started using usernames will be end-to-end encrypted.
The developers also seem to be rolling out a new reply bar feature that will enable users to send images, videos and GIFs when viewing images or videos in a conversation. WhatsApp has been constantly rolling out new features, with the platform recently introducing new Telegram-like Channels, a native app for iPad and UPI payments for business owners, to name a few.
