Back in June, WhatsApp started rolling out the feature that lets users be known by their usernames rather than their phone numbers. Once users have a valid username, the platform will automatically hide their phone numbers from people they message for the first time, with established contacts retaining visibility of the phone numbers. More recently, it looks like the Meta subsidiary is testing giving users more control over who sees their phone numbers.
WABetaInfo reports that this feature is part of a new section within the privacy settings screen of the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.26.45.1 update. This gives users options as to who gets to see their phone numbers once they’ve opted into the username system. The options are “Everyone”, “My contacts”, “My contacts except…”, and “Nobody”. The screenshots included in the report also indicate that changing this setting will reset your existing exceptions list. The pop-up reads “some people you’ve hidden your number from may see it with this change”.
