WhatsApp will let you chat without giving out your number — usernames are coming
Meta's app will let you talk through a username, no phone number swapped. Name reservations are already open. Here's how it works.
How many times have you handed your number to a stranger just to sort out an online-marketplace sale or message a shop? WhatsApp wants to end that awkwardness. Meta’s app will start letting people talk through a username, without sharing a phone number — and name reservations are already open.
How it will work
The idea is simple: instead of swapping contacts, you share a unique username, Instagram- or X-style. To pick one, you go to Settings, Account and Username. It can be 3 to 35 characters, using lowercase letters, numbers, the _ symbol and periods. Anyone wanting to lock in their preferred name before someone else grabs it can reserve it now.
There’s also an extra layer of security: a username key, a code the other person needs to know, on top of the name, before they can message you. That stops just anyone writing to you by guessing the name.
What doesn’t change
Best not to get carried away: an account still needs a phone number to exist. And numbers you’ve already shared with contacts, or that show up in group chats, stay visible to whoever already has them. The change mainly protects those first contacts — with shops, marketplaces, communities or people you’ve just met.
For a country where WhatsApp is practically everyone’s phone line, it’s a welcome shift. Fewer numbers passed hand to hand is, almost always, more peace of mind.
See also: the new Siri and Gemini delayed in Europe. The official announcement is on the WhatsApp blog.
By Oliver Grant
Illustrative · Photo: Anton / Pexels
