WhatsApp usernames will have an interesting privacy feature

WhatsApp has been working on adding support for usernames for a while now, and while that feature still hasn’t been released to the public, the service has now added an interesting twist.

In the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (2.24.18.2), you can set a username PIN so that people who you haven’t interacted with before won’t just be able to message you if they know your username.

This sounds like an incredibly useful feature that should cut down on spam (which is a prevailing issue on WhatsApp these days). With the PIN, if someone you haven’t interacted with before on WhatsApp wants to message you, they won’t just need to know your username, but also your PIN (which will need to be at least four digits).

On the other hand, conversations with people you’re already in touch with will just go on as if nothing changed, even once the usernames are implemented for everyone.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear when the username feature or the PIN support will make it out of beta, but judging by WhatsApp’s usual development time, we’d be surprised to see these go live before the end of the year.

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