WhatsApp username reservations are now open globally. While you still need a phone number to create an account, usernames let you start conversations without sharing your phone number.
Claiming yours would take less than a minute, but only when you go in with all the details.
Your username must be between 3 and 35 characters and must comply with WhatsApp’s policies. Beyond those limits, you’re mostly free to choose what you like.
WhatsApp has already reserved certain handles for top celebrities, VIPs, and verified organizations, so those names are locked.
If nothing clicks, WhatsApp’s built-in generator can suggest unique handles.
Go to Settings > Account > Username on the latest version of WhatsApp. Thereafter, you can enter your desired username, and the app will tell you whether it is available. The app will also give you suggestions regarding available usernames.
As seen in the screenshot, you can also use your Instagram or Facebook username.
Once you select one, it will be linked to your WhatsApp account and will appear when the feature goes live later this year. If the option isn’t visible, hang tight. WhatsApp is rolling this out region by region and will notify you in the app when it arrives in your country.
When it does, anyone messaging you for the first time won’t see your phone number, as long as you’ve enabled your username. For extra protection, you can also set an optional username key that contacts will need in addition to your handle to message you.
If you change your mind later, WhatsApp will also let you change or remove your username.
WhatsApp usernames follow a pattern set by Signal, which added phone-number-free contact discovery in 2024. Telegram has also had this feature for years.
The addition addresses one of WhatsApp’s longest-standing privacy gaps. Sharing your contact information in the app has always required handing over your phone number, making it harder to maintain separation among personal, professional, and public connections.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.