If it feels like WhatsApp looks or behaves a little differently lately, you’re not imagining things.

The messaging app, owned by Meta, has introduced several updates in recent months, ranging from stronger privacy settings to new artificial intelligence (AI) tools and long-awaited features still being tested.

For South Africans, where WhatsApp has become the go-to platform for everything from family chats to school groups and business communication, these changes are likely to affect millions of users.

According to research by DataReportal, around 94% of South Africa’s internet users were using WhatsApp by the end of 2025, making it by far the country’s most popular messaging platform.

Here are three of the biggest changes worth knowing about:

Chat without giving out your cellphone number:

One of the most anticipated features is the introduction of usernames.

Instead of sharing your cellphone number, users will be able to connect using a unique username, similar to platforms such as Telegram.

The feature is still under development, but it is expected to improve privacy by allowing people to chat without revealing their personal numbers.

It could also make it easier to communicate with businesses, community groups or people you’ve only recently met.

More control over private conversations:

WhatsApp has also expanded its privacy tools with a new feature called Advanced Chat Privacy.

The setting adds another layer of protection to conversations by preventing chats from being exported and stopping photos and videos from automatically downloading to other participants’ devices. Certain AI features are also limited when the setting is enabled.

The company says the feature is aimed at chats where users may be discussing sensitive or confidential information.

AI is becoming a bigger part of WhatsApp:

Artificial intelligence is gradually finding its way into the app.

Meta AI is now available to many users, allowing them to ask questions, generate ideas or get help with everyday tasks without leaving WhatsApp.

While some people welcome the added functionality, others have raised privacy concerns. Meta says personal conversations between users remain protected by end-to-end encryption, and that interactions with Meta AI are handled separately.

WhatsApp is known for testing new features before making them widely available, and several more are already in development.

These include additional privacy improvements, new AI capabilities and further changes to the app’s design.

As always, new features are rolled out in phases, so not everyone will receive them at the same time.

Keeping the app updated is the easiest way to make sure you have access to the latest additions as they become available.

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