WhatsApp might have figured out a way around its spam problem

Setting up a WhatsApp account is incredibly easy. All you need is a phone number and you’re good to go. Unfortunately, the ease of creation has also led to a spam problem, where anyone can get a new number, use it for spam, and then get a new number if the account is blocked. But it looks like WhatsApp might have figured out a solution to its spam issue.

According to a report from WABetaInfo, it seems that WhatsApp is working on an advanced username system. WhatsApp has been working on introducing usernames since 2023, and this new feature gives us a look at a new addition to it in the form of PINs.

Basically, if you create a WhatsApp account and username, you’ll have the option to enable a “Username PIN”. This is a code that other people need to enter on their phones if they want to send you a message. It only works with new chats and not existing ones, which we guess is fine since most of the time, spam messages tend to come from new and unknown numbers.

That being said, while it is clever, we can imagine it is troublesome. This is because users who enable the feature will have to give out their PINs to new contacts. It is unclear how this will work if numbers are exchanged online. For example, you might be trying to sell something online and put your WhatsApp contact information, but you obviously wouldn’t know who will be contacting you.

We’ll have to wait for the feature to roll out to get a better idea, but in the meantime, it’s not a bad solution to spam.