Update (November 29, 8:42 pm ET): WhatsApp just made the "Message Yourself" feature official.
What you need to know
- WhatsApp is rolling out a new convenient feature for the iOS platform.
- It is dubbed "Message yourself," which lets you converse or store messages with yourself.
- These are reportedly end-to-end encrypted, and the feature is currently in beta for Android users.
Meta-owned WhatsApp is one of the best messaging apps, with its end-to-end encrypted chats also accommodating many features. A new feature in the works reportedly being released is dubbed "Message yourself." It is said to be available in a stable build for iOS users at the moment.
As noted by WABetaInfo, the new feature allows users to send messages to their own phone numbers. For clarity, the shared screenshot from WABetaInfo gives us a clear picture of the feature that will look like on users' WhatsApp home screen. It will show up as a chat, just like with other contacts on the conversations page.
While it appears in the contact list on the messaging platform, it is addressed as "You" beside your very own contact name. The report further mentions that this feature can also be found on all your linked devices, including your smartphone or computer. It is unclear whether it would also be seen on the Web-based version of WhatsApp next to the native dedicated app.
Most importantly, like other individual and group chats, the "Message yourself" conversations are also said to be end-to-end encrypted.
The feature is officially being rolled out for iOS users, bearing a 22.23.74 build number. Apparently, iOS users were previously able to locate their own numbers in the past, although the feature was seemingly removed earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the feature is currently available through WhatsApp beta for Android devices bearing build number 2.22.24.11, according to WABetaInfo. The functionality happens to be quite similar across both platforms.
The "Message yourself" feature is certainly not new or exclusive to WhatsApp. A similar feature has been available on its rival Signal, dubbed "Note to self." While it does not allow you to chat with your phone number, it appears in the chat to jot down quick notes, addresses, or documents, to name a few.
Telegram also has a 'Saved Messages' feature that works similarly. Social apps and professional apps like "Slack" also allow you to chat with yourself, which can be an easy way to transfer notes or files between devices. We expect this WhatsApp's new feature to work similarly.
It looks like WhatsApp is on a spree in introducing new features, and some have also recently appeared in testing phases. Early this week, WhatsApp was found testing a new companion mode that can link to another phone or tablet. Regarding new features, WhatsApp introduced a new Communities feature early this month. It lets you bring current groups on WhatsApp under a single roof.
Update
The Meta-owned messaging platform has announced that the "Message Yourself" feature is official. The company first confirmed it to TechCrunch, implying the feature will be available globally to Android device and iPhone users in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has tweeted about it, showcasing how the feature works. As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp users could send messages to themselves after the feature rollout. It is said to be helping in adding reminders, inspiration, a to-do list, photos, documents, and more.
Say 👋 to 🆕 Message Yourself.You can now send reminders 📝, inspiration ☁️, and everything in between to yourself in one easy-to-find place synced across all your devices. pic.twitter.com/4dahlgXysiNovember 29, 2022
One of the potential benefits of the new feature is sending a WhatsApp message to a number that isn't on your contacts list.
Imagine you were to send a text to a person who is not in your contacts, but they are on WhatsApp. The new "message yourself" feature would be handy here because you can add the respective number; tapping it would lead you to text, call, or video calls the person — without adding them to your contacts. This will benefit users who typically need to send a one-time text to a person.
Before the feature rollout, some workarounds included creating a group, removing people, and keeping the group to themselves to store messages. That might not be the case anymore.
