WhatsApp’s new feature lets users change numbers easily

WhatsApp, which has 1.5 billion monthly active users who are exchanging nearly 60 billion messages on a single day, has launched a new feature in a Beta update that will soon enable iOS, Android and Windows Phone users migrate their data to a new number without much hassle.

The new ‘Change Number’ feature update is currently available in the 2.18.97 Android beta update on Google Play Store. It will come in iOS and Windows devices later.

“You will be able to choose specific contacts to notify, and the chat history will be moved in the new chat on the recipients’ phone. This deletes the problem of duplicated chats,” tweeted WABetaInfo. The user can now choose if he wants to notify some or all contacts about the number change. “You can also choose to notify contacts who you have a chat with,” the report said.

The user will have to select the ‘Change Number’ option in WhatsApp Settings and then Account. After inserting the required old and new phone numbers, WhatsApp will ask which contacts have to be notified about the new number. After the migration, all shared messages in the old chat will be transferred in the new one and in the chat will appear a new bubble, indicating that the user has a new number, said WABetaInfo.