WhatsApp is beta-testing screen sharing, a username feature,
and a new business feature for the platform. The features have been spotted in
the beta version of the app.
It looks like WhatsApp is introducing a username feature in
the app, which means that every user will be able to create their own username in
the app that will be linked to their account. Similarly, people will be able to
search each other with usernames, even if they don’t have the contact number of
the user they want to search.
There is not much information available on this feature, since it is still in development. However, according to a preview shared by WABetaInfo, the option to set up a username will be located in a dedicated section of ‘Profile’ within WhatsApp Settings.
A new screensharing option is also expected to appear in the
app soon. This feature has been noticed in the 2.23.11.19 version of WhatsApp’s
Android app. It will enable users to share contents of their screens on video
calls. Users will be able to access screensharing from the icon in the
call control view. There is no confirmation on whether or not screensharing
will work on group calls.
In addition to that, a new business feature ‘Status Archive’
has been detected in Android version 2.23.11.18, using which businesses will be
able to have their chats automatically archived after 24 hours. Moreover, these
status updates will stay archived for 30 days and can be reshared in the future
with customers until they expire.
