WhatsApp now also lets you log in with your email address. The email verification option has arrived in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android.
Until recently, there was only one way to verify your WhatsApp account: via text message or quick phone call. Now the option for email verification is added. This means you will soon be able to use your email address to set up WhatsApp on a new device. According to WaBetaInfo that option is already available for some beta testers. They must be on beta version 2.23.24.10 of WhatsApp for Android.
Once installed, the option may appear under ‘Account’ and ‘Email’. There you can directly add your email address as a verification option. All you have to do next is verify the email address. You then have two verification options when setting up WhatsApp. Please note: this change does not alter the fact that you need a telephone number to create an account.
Vulnerable
In addition, the telephone number remains linked as a unique identification number of the account. With a set email address you can log in faster. Access to the telephone number is not necessary. Ideal for when you don’t have access to your phone for a while – or when your phone is even dead. At the same time, it also makes your WhatsApp account vulnerable. If your inbox is compromised, you will also gain access to the chat service.
Advance to username
For a chat service that has relied on telephone numbers since its early days, it is a striking step. A step that may be related to the arrival of usernames. In the future Meta wants to add usernames, appeared in previous beta versions. It immediately became clear that WhatsApp is nevertheless not saying goodbye to the telephone number. Now that you will soon be able to use an email address as a verification option, Meta seems to want to take a broader view.
First we have to wait for the rollout of email verification. According to the leaked information, Meta will roll out the feature to more beta users in the coming weeks. Other users may not be introduced to email addresses in the chat service until close to or after the New Year.