WhatsApp releases an update for the iOS version. Here comes the QR Code to share your phone number and a tool to protect your backups
The developers of WhatsApp have released a major update for the iOS beta version with several new features. These are two tools that have been talked about for a while now: the QR Code to quickly share your phone number with people who don’t have it and “Password Protect Backups”, the feature that allows you to protect your account backup with a password.
The two new features have been discovered by the guys at WaBetaInfo in the latest beta version of WhatsApp for iPhone, number 2.20.60.27. As for the QR Code is already present and can be tested by all users subscribed to the beta version, while the function to protect the backup of the WhatsApp account has only been found in the code of the app, but it is not yet available (it will be in the coming months). The new WhatsApp update is being released and will reach users in the coming hours. Here’s what’s new.
WhatsApp introduces QR Codes to share your phone number: how it works
We’ve been talking about them for a while now, after having already seen them on Instagram and Facebook, and now they’re here, even if only on the iPhone beta version. What are we talking about? The personal QR Code to send to those who do not yet have our phone number. What is the purpose of this new tool? Very simple: if we meet a new colleague or know new friends, to save our phone number just send them the QR Code or have them scan it with their smartphone.
How does the new tool work? The QR Code is placed inside the Settings of WhatsApp, next to your name. You can easily recognize it: it’s the icon with four little squares. By pressing on the button, a new page opens where the QR Code appears: in the note present a little further down there is a very clear text: “your friend can scan or upload this QR Code using WhatsApp’s built-in camera in order to get your phone number”.
In case we send our QR Code to a wrong person, we can reset it immediately by pressing on the “Reset QR Code” button.
For the moment, the feature is only available for iPhone, but soon it should arrive on Android as well.
WhatsApp for iPhone, what is Password Backups
Already seen in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android, now the first traces of Password Backups arrive on iPhone as well. This is the new tool that allows you to protect your account backup from possible hackers. By entering a password, WhatsApp backup is encrypted with end-to-end encryption and it becomes problematic for hackers to take possession of it. It is rumored that this tool will be used mainly to be able to use the same WhatsApp profile on two different devices.
The feature is not yet available, but in the latest beta version of WhatsApp there are some images that explain how it works. In the picture posted by WaBetaInfo there is the login screen for the tool that explains how to use it and what it is for. You have to enter your phone number and then a password.
When the update arrives
The update is being released for all iOS users enrolled in WhatsApp’s beta program. Recall that the QR Code feature is already available, while Password Backups will have to wait a little longer.