In recent months, WhatsApp seems to be focusing its efforts on two very specific aspects: the community aspect and privacy. First, messaging introduced the aptly named Communities tab last year; This tab allows you to create subgroups within existing groups. Add to this the conversations that can accommodate more and more users every day, and WhatsApp is no longer an application aimed at interaction between two people.
This does not mean that it has forgotten its main advantage, at least against mainstream rivals. In fact, WhatsApp has placed great emphasis on protecting privacy in recent months, especially by seeking ways other than phone numbers for users to identify themselves. The possibility of replacing the latter with a pseudonym is especially considered. Or you can even make it disappear completely in the Communities tab.
You’ll soon be able to hide your phone number in WhatsApp’s Communities tab
Currently, your number is visible to all members of a Community when you interact with a message posted in the conversation. Since the latest WhatsApp beta it is possible to prevent this. By setting their number to private, you can respond to any message while keeping your contact information private.
Community managers will not be able to hide their numbers, only participants will be able to remain completely anonymous. Additionally, if you try to contact another group member directly whose number is private, that person must grant you access.
This feature is currently only available with the latest WhatsApp beta version on both Android and iOS. The latter is slowly being rolled out to users and so it won’t be long before the app reaches its public release.
