WhatsApp offers a new solution to secure your account and authenticate you when you log in from an unknown device. Because you can never be too careful!
WhatsApp, the instant messaging service with more than two billion active users, takes security very seriously. For some time, the application has continued to acquire new functions intended to improve the confidentiality of accounts, such as blocking private discussions (Chat Lock), hiding the IP address during audio-video calls or even the creation of an alternative profile. And it continues today with an option to better manage double authentication.
Indeed, if you have activated double authentication to secure access, each time you attempt to connect to your account, the platform sends an SMS containing a verification code to the telephone number associated with your account. An excellent measure to prevent a malicious person from accessing your discussions. The problem is that if the telephone network is poor or not at all, if you use WhatsApp on a computer, far from your phone, or worse, if your mobile is lost or stolen, you cannot receive this famous code authentication.
And this is the reason why WhatsApp will now offer another method: the email address. From now on, you can associate your email with your account, in the application, both in its Android version and in its iOS version. This is an additional method of accessing the platform by allowing you to log into your account in situations where you may have difficulty receiving the six-digit code via SMS. The feature is not available to everyone immediately, as WhatsApp is rolling it out gradually, as it often does. So keep an eye out for updates to enjoy it as soon as possible.
To link an email address to your WhatsApp account, you need to go to Settings, tapping your profile picture, then the Account section. You will then notice a new entry, named Email Address, just above Two-Step Verification. Simply tap on it, enter your email address and validate. An email containing the six-digit code will then be sent to you by WhatsApp. And voila !
Please note that the email address absolutely does not replace the telephone number: you will always need to indicate your mobile number when creating your WhatsApp account, even if you use it at the same time on a computer. But who knows, maybe one day WhatsApp will completely remove this requirement and become a universal application, independent of a phone.