WhatsApp will finally support multiple accounts on the same iPhone
Meta has rolled out a WhatsApp beta build on TestFlight that introduces multi-account support. Here’s how it works.
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WhatsApp security flaw exposed 3.5B phone numbers – including yours [U]
Update, 7:11 p.m. ET: A Meta representative reached out to 9to5Mac and provided the following statement:
“We are grateful to the University of Vienna researchers for their responsible partnership and diligence under our Bug Bounty program. This collaboration successfully identified a novel enumeration technique that surpassed our intended limits, allowing the researchers to scrape basic publicly available information. We had already been working on industry-leading anti-scraping systems, and this study was instrumental in stress-testing and confirming the immediate efficacy of these new defenses. Importantly, the researchers have securely deleted the data collected as part of the study, and we have found no evidence of malicious actors abusing this vector. As a reminder, user messages remained private and secure thanks to WhatsApp’s default end-to-end encryption, and no non-public data was accessible to the researchers.”
A massive WhatsApp security flaw exposed the phone number of almost every user on the planet – despite the fact that parent company Meta had been alerted to the vulnerability way back in 2017.
Security researchers were able to use what they described as a “simple” exploit to extract a total of 3.5 billion phone numbers from the messaging service …
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp to roll out enhanced protection features for high-risk accounts
Users under a higher risk of being targeted by hacking attempts will soon have the option to enable an extra set of security features on WhatsApp. Here are the details.
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Meta shares first timeline details for WhatsApp username support
Starting next year, WhatsApp will finally add support for usernames, rather than relying exclusively on phone numbers. In a new update shared with businesses, Meta has detailed the rollout schedule and technical transition plan.
Expand Expanding CloseYou’ll soon be able to share songs and lyrics from Apple Music to WhatsApp Status
Apple is working on a native integration between the Music app and WhatsApp Status. Here’s what that means.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp launches Apple Watch app packed with new features
The rumors were true: WhatsApp for Apple Watch is official. Following last week’s TestFlight leak, Meta today announced the release of a full-featured watchOS version of WhatsApp. Here are the details.
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WhatsApp for Mac now lets you customize chat themes
With the update rolling out today, Mac users will have 38 color options to customize their WhatsApp chats, like on the iPhone version. Here’s how it works.
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WhatsApp now testing an Apple Watch companion app
Today was a busy day for WhatsApp users. After confirming passkey support on Android and iOS, the company released a TestFlight build with a long-awaited feature for Apple Watch users. Here are the details.
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WhatsApp now supports passkeys for backups
Your live WhatsApp messages and backups are both protected by end-to-end encryption, but so far you’ve only had the option of using a passkey to access your messages. Accessing backups required a password instead.
That’s all changing now as the company is in the process of rolling out passkey support for backups …
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp to finally enable per-chat storage management
Meta is working on a feature that will let users manage the storage of each chat from the chat info screen. Here are the details.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp will now warn scam victims against screen-sharing bank details
A tactic used by a growing number of scammers is to impersonate help centres in order to trick victims into sharing their screens via WhatsApp. By doing so, they can obtain sensitive information like bank account details and verification codes.
Meta says WhatsApp will now intervene when someone attempts to use screen sharing with an unknown contact during a video call. The company will also proactively flag suspicious-looking chats in Facebook Messenger …
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WhatsApp to restrict how many messages users can send without replies
To curb WhatsApp’s growing spam problem, Meta will begin testing a monthly cap for how many messages users can send to people who haven’t replied. Here are the details.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp for iPhone adds built-in message translation in 21 languages
After releasing it on Android a few weeks ago, WhatsApp is now rolling out its own translation tool on iOS. Here’s how it works.
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WhatsApp will let users reserve @ handles ahead of username support
Up until now, WhatsApp accounts have only been tied to users’ phone numbers. That’s about to change, as the app prepares to introduce username support. To get ready for the rollout, WhatsApp is setting up a username reservation system. Here’s how it’ll work.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp for iOS gets Live Photos support
Today, Meta officially confirmed what some WhatsApp users had already been noticing for the past few days: the app now supports Live Photos. Here’s how it works.
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WhatsApp Status is getting a Close Friends feature
While most U.S. users have never used—or even heard of—WhatsApp Status Updates, Meta recently revealed that the tab is now used by 1.5 billion people per day worldwide. And soon, WhatsApp will take a page from Instagram by adding a Close Friends feature.
Expand Expanding CloseHackers chained Apple and WhatsApp flaws in ‘advanced spyware campaign’
A few days ago, Apple fixed a vulnerability on iOS and macOS that “may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.” Now, new details have emerged, and it appears that the hacking campaign also leveraged a now-fixed WhatsApp flaw to target its victims. Here are the details.
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WhatsApp starts testing AI-powered writing suggestions on iOS [U: launched]
Update, Aug 27: The feature was officially launched today for English-speaking users, according to the official WhatsApp blog. Original post below.
In the latest TestFlight release for its iOS beta testers, WhatsApp rolled out a tool called “Writing Help,” which suggests replies based on the tone set by the user. Here’s how it works.
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WhatsApp is working on a voicemail-like feature
Heads up if you tend to dodge, ignore, or genuinely miss calls on WhatsApp: the app is working on a voicemail-like feature. Here’s how it will work.
Expand Expanding CloseMeta introduces new tools to help identify scam messages on WhatsApp
It seems scarcely a week goes by now without receiving at least one job scam message on either iMessage or WhatsApp.
Meta has now introduced two new tools to help you identify scams, whether they arrive as individual messages or as posts to group chats …
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WhatsApp is testing message reminders
If you’re like me and often read a message, tell yourself you’ll reply later, and then instantly forget about it, a new WhatsApp experiment might bring the solution.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp streamlines in-app support process
If you’ve ever tried to get in-app support on WhatsApp, you know the process used to start with filling out a form, possibly attaching a few files, and waiting for a support rep to eventually get in touch.
Now, that form is on its way out, and the screening process is, you guessed it, becoming AI-based. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp is working on threaded replies in group chats
Last March, WhatsApp beta for Android introduced a much-requested feature for busy group chats: threaded replies. Now, the iOS beta has added support as well, hinting that a public launch may be getting close. Here’s what it looks like.
Expand Expanding CloseWhatsApp rolls out Meta AI-powered message summaries in the U.S.
A couple of weeks ago, WABetaInfo spotted signs that Meta was gearing up to bring AI-generated summaries for WhatsApp messages. Today, the feature is officially live for users in the U.S. Here’s how to use it.
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