WhatsApp update makes changing phone numbers easy

WhatsApp has added a new feature that makes the process of changing your phone number a little less stressful.

With the touch of a button, you can tell all of your contacts what your new number is, saving you from the hassle of messaging them all individually.

If you don’t want all of them to know your new number, you can instead choose to only notify the people you’ve been having conversations with, or a custom list of hand-picked contacts.

All of your group chats, meanwhile, will be notified of your number change automatically.

The feature was spotted by WABetaInfo, which says it’s enabled by default in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android. It’s also coming to the iOS version of the app.

When you use the feature to inform someone you’ve been chatting with on WhatsApp about your number change, old messages in the conversation will automatically be transferred to the WhatsApp account associated with your new number.

If you don’t, the messages won’t be transferred and your contact will assume you’re still using your old number.

The feature has just been added to the beta version of WhatsApp, but that’s easy to access. Just follow this link and sign up.

In the regular version of WhatsApp, you can update your number by going to Settings, Account and Change Number. On Android, only group chats are automatically told that you’ve changed numbers. On iOS, nobody is.

“For a seamless messaging experience, notify your contacts that your number will be changing before you begin this process,” WhatsApp warns.

Its new automated number change feature will make things a lot smoother when it officially rolls out.