No WhatsApp? No Problem – Guest Chats Are Coming

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WhatsApp is testing a new feature that allows people to communicate with users over the platform even if they don't have an account.

Whatsapp Feature
According to WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta for Android contains references to so-called "guest chats," which lets users send a link to an online chat, where the "guest" doesn't have to have an app on their device or even need to be in possession of a WhatsApp account.

To kick off a guest chat, the WhatsApp user has to invite someone from their contacts who doesn't have the app installed and share a chat link. When the recipient opens the link, they're granted access to an online end-to-end encrypted chat with the sender – likely via an interface similar to WhatsApp Web.

As you might expect, there will be a few limitations to guest chats. Users won't be able to share media files like photos and videos, and guest chats won't support voice or video messages – only straight text. The mode will also be strictly one-to-one, so no group chats either.

Further technical details on how the guest chats will be implemented have yet to be made available, but the general idea lines up with parent company Meta's efforts to comply with EU rules on platform interoperability. WhatsApp has been working on the ability to integrate third-party chats from iMessage, Telegram, Google Messages, Signal, and others for some time.

It's not clear when guest chats will become generally available, but barring some insurmountable technical hurdle, expect the feature to arrive in a future WhatsApp update for both Android and iOS.

Tag: WhatsApp

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Top Rated Comments

NightFox Avatar
NightFox
4 weeks ago
The thing that I hate most about WhatsApp is how they manipulate people into thinking that end-to-end encryption ticks all the privacy boxes. Yes, Meta might not be able to read your actual messages but they know who you are, who you message, how often, what groups you're a member of and most active in, what groups your most messaged contacts are members of - all that information is gold.

And when you click the OK button to allow WhatsApp access to your Contacts, are you sure your contacts are happy that you've just shared all of their contact info with Meta? Remember that potentially includes where they work, their job title, their date of birth etc.

Do people not wonder why Meta, a company whose very purpose is to farm and sell user data, would offer a service like WhatsApp if they weren't getting marketable personal data out of it?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AgeOfSpiracles Avatar
AgeOfSpiracles
4 weeks ago

Accessable to more than just iOS.

Are you under the impression that every phone should only be an iPhone with iOS?
Proprietary isn't the word you want then. Whatsapp is just as proprietary as iMessage.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AgeOfSpiracles Avatar
AgeOfSpiracles
4 weeks ago

Apple Messages is a proprietary joke
And just what do you think Whatsapp is?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedGT Avatar
RedGT
4 weeks ago
Isn’t this a scammers dream?

I know it’s only an invite from a contact, but……
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
ThomasJL
4 weeks ago

The thing that I hate most about WhatsApp is how they manipulate people into thinking that end-to-end encryption ticks all the privacy boxes. Yes, Meta might not be able to read your actual messages but they know who you are, who you message, how often, what groups you're a member of and most active in, what groups your most messaged contacts are members of - all that information is gold.

And when you click the OK button to allow WhatsApp access to your contacts, are you sure your contacts are happy that you've just shared all of their contact info with Meta? Remember that potentially includes where they work, their job title, their date of birth etc.

Do people not wonder why Meta, a company whose very purpose is to farm and sell user data, would offer a service like WhatsApp if they weren't getting marketable personal data out of it?
Great points.

While Apple isn't perfect when it comes to privacy, it would've been much better for privacy if Apple had acquired WhatsApp instead of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg is a villanous scumbag who does not take privacy seriously.

Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014. I wonder if Steve Jobs had not died in 2011, would Apple have acquired WhatsApp sooner than Facebook did. Tim Cook is not a products person, so it’s no surprise that he was clueless on how dominant WhatsApp was at the time and how it was on track to growing even larger.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
Ctrlos
4 weeks ago

Interesting, it could be used for chats between package delivery staff and the customer. I think in USA it’s handled with SMS but never got something like that in Spain (they usually call for issues/confirm you’re at home). So the business can generate a chat without an specific phone number and (hopefully) let you join without letting your phone show up to the employee and manage any issue there, although it’s always faster to handle it on a call.
Id like to think that it's to expand it's utility. In reality it's probably a stealth applet designed for more Meta data collection.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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