O Whatsapp brings a lot of practicality to our daily lives. The exchange of quick messages, audios and calls makes it easier for people to stay in touch, regardless of where they are. However, the app puts something that is highly valued at risk: privacy. The new update of the app, however, can help restore it. We are talking about the feature usernameor “username”, as it has been called here.
Information about the new feature was released by WABetaInfo. The feature was initially found in the beta version of WhatsApp on Android. This shows that the tool is currently in the testing phase. However, there is no denying that it has excited most of the app’s users.
How will the new feature work?
Even though it is still in the testing phase, it is still unclear how the new feature will work. However, a screenshot of the new feature was leaked and shows that the idea is for each person to have a unique username. The feature is quite similar to the famous “@” on Instagram, for example. The username must be created from the “Profile” menu settings within the WhatsApp application.
For experts in the field, this new feature comes from a change in user behavior, and even from the need to add each other without having to give out their phone number, especially in the case of strangers. This is actually a feature that Telegrama competitor of WhatsApp, already has it.
This change in behavior shows that users are increasingly seeking privacy. Therefore, changing your cell phone number so that you are available on the app for conversations and information exchanges is something that can end up driving users away from the app.
More than a messaging app
The intention to launch this feature for users demonstrates something that the market has already observed: WhatsApp is interested in becoming much more than a messaging app, but rather a superapp, like WeChatdeveloped by the company Tencent, in China.
WeChat is quite popular among Chinese people. The app allows each user to have a unique QR Code that, when scanned, takes them directly to the add friends page. And that’s not all. In addition to exchanging messages, WeChat users can schedule appointments, book hotels, rent bicycles, and much more.
The idea is to help users maintain a “lifestyle” in one place. And the idea seems to have worked, given that the app is in second place as the most downloaded messaging app, losing only to WhatsApp itself.
