WhatsApp plans usernames as an alternative to phone numbers
The Meta-owned messaging app says users will be able to reserve unique handles before a broader privacy rollout later this year.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
WhatsApp will allow people to use usernames instead of phone numbers, a change the company says is meant to give users more control over who can find and contact them. The Meta-owned messaging service, which Al Jazeera and The Associated Press reported is used by more than three billion people, said it has started opening username reservations before a wider launch later this year.
WhatsApp said Monday that users will be able to choose unique handles and, in the coming months, opt to be reached only through those usernames rather than through their phone numbers. The company did not give a more specific date for when the feature will be broadly available.
According to WhatsApp, the feature will not come with a public directory or autocomplete suggestions. That means a person trying to make first contact will need the exact username, the company said.
“We have designed this as a core privacy feature,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, told reporters. “People will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time,” she said.
How the system will work
WhatsApp currently lets people be contacted by anyone who has their phone number, according to Al Jazeera and AP. The app offers end-to-end encrypted messaging across phones, tablets and desktop computers, but its main identifier has remained the phone number tied to an account.
The company’s existing privacy tools include blocking specific users and muting calls from unknown numbers, according to Al Jazeera and AP. WhatsApp also lets users add a profile name, but that name appears in group chats only to people who do not already have the user’s contact information saved.
WhatsApp said usernames will have to be between three and 35 characters. The company also said it will reserve some usernames to reduce impersonation risks involving high-profile people or groups, including celebrities, public figures and government entities.
Newton-Rex said demand for desirable names was one reason the company opened reservations before the main rollout. “I think a lot of people will go and get usernames, and that’s why we decided to open reservations early,” she said.
Companies, organizations and creators that already have accounts on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook will be given a chance to claim their names on WhatsApp, according to the company.
Why it matters for users
Al Jazeera and AP reported that WhatsApp is widely used across Europe, Asia and much of the rest of the world, while people in the United States still tend to favor text messaging. That reach means the change could affect how many users share contact details for work, online sales, community groups and personal chats.
WhatsApp has framed the username system as a privacy feature rather than a social discovery tool. By requiring an exact username and avoiding a searchable directory, the company said it aims to let users limit exposure of their phone numbers while keeping first-time contact more controlled.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.