WhatsApp is a messaging application preferred by many people. A pioneer in one-on-one messaging and group chats, WhatsApp has changed the way we communicate. The Communities feature facilitates larger group interactions. However, the app does not yet have a feature that its rival Telegram has had for years: Channels.
Channels are a tool that allows users to broadcast information to large audiences. WhatsApp has also announced that it will bring this feature soon. It’s clear that the app is getting closer to Telegram’s familiar design. WABetaInfo discovered a new alert preparing the release of the channels feature. The warning appears in beta version 2.23.10.14 of the messaging app available on the Play Store.
Members’ phone numbers will not be visible
WhatsApp says the number of members a channel can have has not been determined. Thanks to this feature, users will be able to share news, events and other information to a wide audience. Also, channel members will not see the sender’s phone number, thus keeping the sender’s privacy protected.
Interestingly, WhatsApp’s warning does not specify whether communication in channels is end-to-end encrypted. This causes users to wonder about the security and privacy issues of this new feature.
Another screenshot from WABetaInfo clarifies that updates from channels will appear below temporary status updates from your contacts. To accommodate this change, WhatsApp will rename the Status tab to Updates. Both these changes give us a clear understanding of how channels will work in WhatsApp.
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