WhatsApp is changing how contacts work | Infinium-tech

Today, WhatsApp has announced a significant change in the way it handles contacts. Up to this point, contacts in WhatsApp are the contacts of the phone on which it is installed. For example, this can be a problem for people who lose their phone and don’t have a backup of their contacts. This can also be a headache for those who share a phone, as well as those who manage multiple accounts with different contacts on one device.

However, thankfully WhatsApp has a solution: a built-in contact manager. This will let you save contacts in the app, and so you won’t lose them if you change phones.

The first step in implementing this new feature is the ability to save contacts on WhatsApp Web and Windows. WhatsApp owner Meta says you’ll eventually be able to save contacts on other linked devices.

The contacts you save in WhatsApp use a new privacy-preserving storage technology called Identity Proof Linked Storage (IPLS), which Meta says keeps names and numbers encrypted and only allows You Reach out to them.

The new Contacts feature will, at some point in the future, be adopted by a username system that will let you use the app without linking your account to your phone number.

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