WhatsApp is one of the most widely used text messaging apps out there, and it’s also one of the few that uses your phone number as a user identifier. Many of its rivals, such as WeChat and Telegram, instead use usernames like you would on social media and the like. However, judging from an early preview build of WhatsApp, the Meta-owned chat platform could change that.
According to WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta for Android, version 2.23.11.15, features a new section under your Profile that lets you choose a username. It seems like you’ll be able to add a unique username to your account, adding an extra layer of security to your account as it means it won’t be solely tied to your phone number. This could also be a way for WhatsApp users to chat to others without needing to share your phone number; you could just share your WhatsApp username instead.
That being said, WABetaInfo also confirmed that conversations initiated via the new username system will still be covered by WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption just like regular chats.
That’s cool and all sure, but as for why that might just be a bad move, the guys working at WhatsApp simply need to look at Discord. The popular voice chat and messaging platform suffered quite a backlash recently when they announced that users were to replace their current number-based username with a new one, which each user having a unique username. This led to users quickly hoarding prized usernames such as that of celebrities and companies which could be misused for impersonation, while others had to change away from a username they had already used for years.
WhatsApp of course will have to work to ensure they avoid a similar situation that Discord finds themselves in. In any case, seeing as the feature is still early in development, we can’t tell how exactly WhatsApp intends to implement the new username system. It could be to complement phone numbers for instance rather than outright replacing it as a way to add new contacts to WhatsApp.
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