WhatsApp tests hiding phone numbers from sub-groups in Communities
WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging app, is working on a new feature that will allow users to hide their phone numbers in its Communities. According to WABetaInfo, the messaging platform is testing the facility in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.17.23. With the help of this feature, users will soon be able to hide their numbers from a certain sub-group of a Community.
Why does this story matter?
WhatsApp is actively trying to improve its status as the world's leading instant messaging platform. It has been dropping feature after feature week in and week out. The new Communities tab is the Meta-owned company's way of attracting big organizations to the platform. The new "phone number sharing" feature will certainly attract more people to the platform because of the added privacy.
'Phone number hiding' option will be available in future update
The feature is turned off by default
Members of a sub-group in a Community can hide their phone numbers by going to the "phone number sharing" option in the group info section. The option is turned off by default, meaning your phone number will be hidden the moment you join a Community. You can then decide whether you want to share it with a specific sub-group or not.
WhatsApp talked about hiding phone numbers in April
In April, WhatsApp announced that the phone numbers of members in a Community will be hidden from all except admins and others in a specific sub-group. However, we did not know how the Meta-owned company planned to implement the feature. The screenshot shared by WABetaInfo gives us an insight into what the feature would look like in future updates.
Members in Communities can broadcast only in their sub-group
WhatsApp started rolling out the Communities tab to a select number of users in April. A community hosts multiple groups under one umbrella. Unlike groups, a Community can have thousands of members belonging to various sub-groups. In Communities, while admins can broadcast to the whole body, members can do the same only in the sub-group they are a part of.
The feature has not been released to beta testers yet
The phone number hiding option is limited to WhatsApp Communities. It is still under development, so it is not ready to be released to beta testers. We will see it in the app in a future update.
