Not part of the WhatsApp club yet? Not to worry, it looks like you’ll soon still be able to dip your toes in without signing up.
A new feature called “guest chats,” found by WABetaInfo in a beta build, will reportedly allow anyone without a WhatsApp account to chat with someone who does have one after the feature is rolled out in a future update.
To start a guest chat, an app user would need to invite a non-app user to an online chat via a link. The invited party does not need to have WhatsApp installed on their phone nor have a WhatsApp account, and the sender can share the online chat link on any platform they choose — text, email or social media.
Upon opening a chat link, the guest will be able to engage in an encrypted chat with the sender. The guest chats will be only one-to-one — no group chats — and photos, videos or GIFs can be shared. Voice and video messages won’t be supported.
App owner Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WhatsApp’s new “guest chats” feature doesn’t come without risks, says Chuck Brooks, president of Brooks Consulting International and once called one of the “5 Tech Voices You Should Be Following on LinkedIn.”
“There are a number of problems associated with allowing users to accept messages from unknown contacts on WhatsApp, chief among them being malware, frauds, and privacy issues,” Brooks said.
Brooks notes that the change offers the possibility that users with bad intentions will pose as trustworthy people, provide dangerous links, or attempt phishing schemes.
“Unknown contacts may forward and include links to phishing websites that aim to steal personal data or infect a user’s device with malware,” he said. “It can also result in unwanted interaction, such as harassment or unwelcome group additions, when you receive messages from strangers.”
This forthcoming WhatsApp feature brings Meta in line with the European Union’s 2020 Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. One of the provisions of that legislation was allowing WhatsApp and Messenger users in Europe to communicate with people using other messaging services, or what Meta refers to as “third-party chats.”
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world, with more than 2 billion monthly users. The US leads the way with the most WhatsApp iOS downloads.
