Seventeen years after its launch, WhatsApp is changing one of its basic principles: Meta announced Monday evening that in the coming days, it will gradually roll out the long-awaited new “usernames” feature, allowing users for the first time to hide their phone numbers on the app.
It is one of the most significant privacy changes WhatsApp has made in recent years. While rivals such as Telegram have allowed communication through usernames for years, WhatsApp has relied almost entirely on phone numbers since its founding. Now it is adopting a similar model, but with added security mechanisms designed to give users greater control over who can contact them.
WhatsApp launches usernames
(Video: Meta)
No need to reveal your phone number anymore
Until now, anyone who wanted to start a conversation with a new person on WhatsApp had to obtain their phone number. That meant that even in relatively simple cases — selling an item online, speaking with a service provider or making a business inquiry — users had to expose their private phone numbers.
The new feature changes that. Instead of sharing your phone number, you will now be able to provide your unique username, which can be used to find you on WhatsApp and start a conversation without your personal number being revealed.
For many users, this is mainly a privacy improvement. But for businesses, content creators and people who receive many inquiries, it is also a more convenient way to manage communication without distributing their personal phone number and without maintaining a second line for work purposes.
WhatsApp launches the 'usernames' feature
(Photo: Meta)
However, Meta said the rollout will not reach all users at once. In the first stage, which will begin in the coming days, WhatsApp will allow users to choose and reserve a username before the feature is opened fully around the world.
Users who also operate a Facebook or Instagram account will be able to choose to keep the same username they already use on Meta’s other platforms. The goal is to allow creators and businesses to maintain a consistent identity across the company’s services.
Another layer of security
Alongside usernames, WhatsApp is also adding a new option called Key — a kind of additional security key that users can set independently. If you choose to activate this feature, someone trying to contact you on WhatsApp for the first time will not be able to do so using only your username. They will also have to enter the key.
That way, even if your username is visible or has been published online, you will still have another level of control over who can start a conversation with you. It is a relatively unusual mechanism in the world of messaging apps, indicating that Meta is aware that the shift to usernames could also make it easier for strangers to find users.
Alongside usernames, you can also set a key
(Video: Meta)
Closing the gap
The move to usernames is a fairly expected change. For years, it has been one of the features most requested by WhatsApp users and, at the same time, one of Telegram’s most prominent advantages, allowing people to contact each other without knowing their phone numbers.
Now WhatsApp is also adopting the idea, but doing so cautiously and through a gradual rollout. If the move succeeds, the phone number may become less central to the app experience in the near future — a change that would have seemed almost impossible only a few years ago.