WhatsApp announced a new feature on Tuesday that will allow users to save contacts within the application. If you happen to lose your phone or link a new device to your primary number, you will still see all your contacts saved within WhatsApp's cloud storage.

Until now, WhatsApp relied on your phone's contact book to sync contacts. So, if you were messaged by someone new inside the app, wanting their details if you were going to save them, then the information was stored locally on your device.

It's an extension that's just recently become available and you'll also be able to store contacts on any device, including WhatsApp for the web and Windows. You can, of course, set up a preference to sync contacts saved within WhatsApp to your phone as well.

The company last year began allowing users to log into two WhatsApp accounts on one device. It's quite convenient to save contacts linked to one WhatsApp account if you would like your personal and business contacts to be separated. And, of course, if you share the device with others you can maintain your separate contact list linked to your number.

WhatsApp stated that it created a novel kind of encrypted storage system called Identity Proof Linked Storage, or IPLS. This is used to enable secure saving of contacts and the retrieval is based on the client authenticating its primary device identity. The encryption key is generated once the user saves a contact.

The app is also teaming up with Cloudflare to sign any modifications to the cryptographic properties of a user's directory. According to Meta, this process serves to confirm that no one has altered the stored contacts in WhatsApp.
According to the company, technology powering the contact storage feature allows for storing of contacts through username.

The company said in a blog post that the usernames on WhatsApp will add an extra degree of privacy so that you don't need to share your phone number when messaging someone.

It had been in the development phase for quite some time. According to WABetaInfo, there was a report from May 2023 stating that the company was working on finally bringing usernames to the app. Since there is already an availability of ways to share the username with someone by Signal and Telegram without giving their contact details, WhatsApp was at a loss to follow the same.