Test version WhatsApp has function for ‘public’ group chats

WhatsApp has been given an option for more or less public group chats in the latest test version. Group admins can share a link and anyone who clicks it can then join the group.

The URLs start with chat.whatsapp.com, Android Police discovered. Anyone who clicks on such a link on a phone will see WhatsApp open and try to look up the chat. With a working link, WhatsApp opens a notification with the name of the group, the person who created the group and how many people are in it. With this feature, the person who created the group does not need to have the phone number of new members, although it will probably be visible when new members join the group.

The function seems to be made for things like ‘NeighbourhoodWhatsApp’, in which up to hundreds of people living in the same neighborhood can alert each other to burglars. This makes it easy to register, although in this way burglars can also easily access the group chat.

The links can be opened by anyone with an internet connection, but links to specific group chats are not yet publicly available online. In addition, it is not yet possible to share a link from a group chat. WhatsApp itself has not yet said anything about the function, which may now only work in the test version.