WhatsApp has announced a new feature – contacts will now be stored in the messenger cloud. This means that when you connect a new device, you no longer need to transfer them manually – they will immediately appear in the application.
Image source: WhatsApp
For now, the basis for the contact list is the phone book on the user’s device, and if a new person writes to him, then his data is saved locally. The new feature, which will appear soon, will provide access to contacts using any connection method, including in the web version of WhatsApp and in the Windows client. Contacts saved in the WhatsApp cloud can be synchronized with your phone.
Last year, the messenger added the ability to log into two WhatsApp accounts on one device – linking contacts to an account will be convenient when you need to separate personal and business ones. To store them in the cloud, the messenger administration has developed an Identity Proof Linked Storage (IPLS) security system. When a user saves a contact, an encryption key is generated on the device, and the primary device ID for that account is used to later retrieve it. The company that owns the messenger, Meta✴, has also enlisted the support of Cloudflare – the cloud provider digitally signs when making any changes to the user’s encrypted directories.
The technology that formed the basis of the cloud storage function for contacts will also be used to subsequently link them to user names. “Thanks to this, you will be able to communicate without revealing your phone number, and correspondence will become more confidential,” says the messenger’s blog. Competitors Signal and Telegram already have support for usernames.