WhatsApp is Finally Getting Usernames

Up until now, whatsapp accounts have onyl been tied to users’ phone numbers. ThatS about to change, as the app prepares to introduce username support. To get ready for the rollout, WhatsApp is setting up a username reservation system. Here’s how it’ll work.

WhatsApp to finally catch up with the competition on usernames

Since its 2009 debut, whatsapp has only allowed users to sign up and connect with contacts using phone numbers, while competing apps like Telegram have long supported usernames as an option.

Back in June, WABetaInfo spotted code in a WhatsApp TestFlight build referencing usernames, and establishing some ground rules as to how that is going to work:

“Usernames can’t begin with ‘www.’ as this could mislead users into thinking they are interacting with an official website entity. Usernames must include at least one letter,which prevents the use of usernames made up only of numbers or symbols. only certain characters are allowed: lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), periods, and underscores. This will help maintain a clean and predictable structure across all usernames.”

Now, WABetaInfo has spotted another step toward username