Now aside from the Private Reply feature and the Stickers feature that WhatsApp has recently released, the app is going to introduce two new features; Add Contacts and Share Contact Info via QR.
Image credit : WABetaInfo
Firstly, the new update in WhatsApp will revamp the Add Contacts feature by allowing users to add contacts quicker than before, where they can select the country of the new contact and WhatsApp will automatically insert the country code before users insert the phone number of the new contact. WhatsApp will also automatically identify whether the new contact is a WhatsApp user, so that users will know whether the contact can be reached within the app.
The second new feature is the ability to share your own contact or add others through the QR code system. This is similar to Instagram’s Nametag feature, Snapchat’s Snapcode and also WeChat’s QR code. By scanning the WhatsApp QR code, the app will automatically fill in all the information provided in user’s address book.
Image credit : WABetaInfo
The QR code can also be revoked when users first generate their QR codes and it could be done countless of times, ensuring that previous QR codes are marked as expired codes. This is especially useful for business users who can share their contacts online, as they can also choose to revoke the code if they decided to change their numbers or stop doing their businesses.
While the Add Contact feature is not yet available on both iOS and Android devices, the QR code feature is already spotted in iOS devices, and according to WABetaInfo, it will be available on Android too.