Get ready to reserve your WhatsApp username

It has been known for a little while that Meta has been working on a username system for WhatsApp. The popular messaging app is slightly unusual in not offering people a way to choose a username, but this is going to change at some point in the future.

Recent beta builds of the iOS and Android apps show that work is gathering paced, and the most recent development is a username reservation system. This will serve as a way for users to try to pre-select their preferred username even before the username system rolls out to everyone.

While many people will simply like the idea of usernames across WhatsApp – for reasons such as it is easier to remember usernames, and there is a tendency to lean towards using the same username across platforms for consistency – security is how Meta is framing things. It is seen as a way of being able to communicate on the platform without the need to share your phone number.

The company says of usernames:

Get more protection for your phone number. People who don’t have your number saved will see your username instead.

WABetaInfo has spotted signs of development in this area in both the iOS and Android apps, noting that ta username reservation system is currently being prepared:

Following the release of the WhatsApp beta for iOS 25.30.10.70 update, we discovered that WhatsApp is developing a username reservation system for iOS. Previously announced for the Android app, this functionality will let users secure their preferred usernames before the full rollout of the feature. This feature aims to ensure fairness, giving a larger group of users the opportunity to claim their desired usernames before they are taken by others.

Going on to explain a bit more about how the system will work when it launches, WABetaInfo says:

During the early-access phase, many users will be able to reserve unique usernames that follow WhatsApp's formatting and safety guidelines. Reserved names will be linked to user accounts, ensuring exclusive ownership once the feature officially launches. Username requirements include using only lowercase letters, numbers, underscores, and periods—without domains or misleading formats. Each username must be unique, between 3 and 30/35 characters long, and cannot begin or end with a period. This reservation system aims to ensure fairness by letting more users secure names early instead of losing them to faster rollout groups.

WhatsApp has not given any indication of quite when it plans to give users access to the username reservation option, and the same is true of when usernames will be used across the platform. With WhatsApp, such things are very difficult to predict; with some features development happens at lightning pace while others seem to take an age to emerge.