Phone numbers may become a thing of the past. Well, for WhatsApp users at least. The ever popular messaging platform appears to be testing a new feature that allows users to add one another via QR code. A quality-of-life feature that harkens back to the ol’ BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) days when that brand was still a thing.
This new addition was spotted in the 2.20.171 beta version of the app by WABetaInfo. According to their report, users can see a small QR icon located in their Settings page which will direct them to the new QR Code section. From here, users are presented with their own personal QR code that can be shared with another person, as well as a Scan Code option for adding others.
Keep in mind that a user’s code will contain their WhatsApp ID and their phone number, so that’s something for you to consider first before presenting it to another person. That said, WhatsApp has also added the ability for users to revoke their code if someone were to misuse it.
As mentioned earlier, the new QR code contact sharing feature is only available in the beta version of WhatsApp, and is currently in its testing phase. It’s uncertain whether this new function will be introduced to the public version of the app in the near future.
(Source: WABetaInfo)