WhatsApp says 'it's true' and confirms contacts change for billions of users

WhatsApp has confirmed a major change is being rolled out and it's all to do with a person's contacts. The platform is the most-used messaging app in the world, with more than two billion people communicating on it regularly.

More than 100 billion messages are sent each day on WhatsApp. In a new update bosses at WhatsApp, owned by Meta, confirmed a new update to the app, that should make using it a little easier - or at least solve a small annoyance.

The post on the official WhatsApp X account reads: "it's true, you no longer have to reach for your phone. Add or edit your contacts from whichever linked device you're on". Text on an accompanying graphic adds: "NEW: Add and manage contacts across linked devices."

This means, when the update lands, WhatsApp users will be able to save contacts without syncing to a phone. Meta said this will also solve the problem of people losing all of their contacts when they misplace a phone, as the contacts will be fully restorable.

WhatsApp is also getting usernames for contacts which, Meta said, will “add an extra degree of privacy so that you don’t need to share your phone number when messaging someone".