WhatsApp is testing out a new feature that will allow users to initiate chat with people who do not have an account on the platform. The feature made an appearance in the latest WhatsApp beta 2.25.22.13 build for Android.
Spotted by WABetaInfo, the feature is currently in development and was discovered in the code of the beta build, which is being rolled out via the Google Play Beta Program. The feature tracker also gave us a good look at how the new feature will work and look like.
As it is evident from the above screenshot, the work-in-progress feature is intended to give users on the platform a seamless and continuous chatting experience with others. These conversations will be referred to as "Guest Chats" and unlike a regular WhatsApp conversation, there will be limitations here.
Apart from textual-based chats, these sandboxed chat environment will not support the sharing of media files, GIFs, voice messages, video messages and more. Users will not be able to place voice and video calls as well with the outsider.
This has been probably set to ensure safety and security on the platform. The ability to text with non-WhatsApp users is not new. Third-party clients have the ability to take WhatsApp conversations beyond the platform. However, unlike those chats, these Guest chats will happen within the WhatsApp ecosystem itself.
To start a guest chat, an existing user will need to share a chat link with the non-user. Once clicked, it will open the restricted chat window within WhatsApp to allow both the parties to interact. Just like regular chats, these conversations will also be end-to-end encrypted.
With that said, since this feature is in the pipeline, we will know more details about how this actually works once the feature reaches to the beta adopters. However, without a doubt this will be a very handy feature that will let users interact with anyone seamlessly without needing to jump between one platform to another.
