WhatsApp Shifts Toward Usernames to Replace Phone Numbers

The reservation period offers a head start for users to claim familiar handles before the feature becomes fully operational later this year. To secure a name, users must navigate to Settings, then Account, and finally Username in the app’s latest version. Meta is encouraging users to mirror their existing Instagram or Facebook identities to maintain consistency and curb impersonation risks.

Alice Newton-Rex, head of product at WhatsApp, confirmed that the company has proactively locked specific handles associated with high-profile figures, including politicians and celebrities, to prevent bad actors from hijacking their digital presence. Despite the shift toward handle-based discovery, the platform is maintaining a strict barrier to entry: users cannot browse for contacts. You must possess the exact username of a person to initiate a conversation, ensuring that the platform remains a private messaging tool rather than a public social network.