As one of the mostpopular messaging appsin the world, WhatsApp has a responsibility to protect the privacy of its users. While all messages on the platform are encrypted, the Meta-owned chat app has been working on developing more security features over time. WhatsApp developers have been testing an email-based user verification systemsince August this year. This particular security feature is now reaching more testers on the latest version of WhatsApp beta for Android, indicating its imminent release on the stable channel.
This extended beta rollout follows WhatsApp’s recent launch ofpasskeys for all usersafter being spotted on the beta channel for a couple of months. As per WABetaInfo’sreporting, the under-development email verification system resides within Settings > Account on the app and appears to be enabled for some beta testers on version2.23.24.10, though I didn’t have that luck on my device.
The screenshot shared by the site reveals a fairly straightforward setup, including a field for your email, with the accompanying text making it clear that email addresses cannot be read by others and that this verification system helps users access their accounts. Expectedly, users need to verify the email to have it set up on their account, and failing to do so will show a prompt to get it done, along with a button to verify, which presumably resends the verification email to the chosen account.
This email verification is merely an additional option to secure your WhatsApp account and is not meant to be the primary option. But in an ideal world, almost every app user should link their email address with WhatsApp to safeguard against theft/loss of their phone.
This new verification system is seemingly available to a limited number of beta testers right now. However, it should be more widely available over the next few weeks, as WABetaInfo points out. Your phone number will always be the first way to verify your identity on WhatsApp, but if that fails, the email option should certainly come in handy.
Among the many additions we’ve spotted on WhatsApp beta recently, few are as exciting as the recently spottedYouTube-style tap-to-seek video navigationfor the chat app’s default media player, which is currently bare bones and in desperate need of an overhaul. Based on its usefulness to millions of WhatsApp users, we suspect its arrival would be high on the list of the developers' priorities.
Another beta addition we came across this week was the ability to create anAlternate profilefor better separation between work and personal profiles. This came weeks afterWhatsApp rolled out multi-account supportfor all Android users after crawling through the beta phases for months.
