WhatsApp Develops Birthday Reminder Feature Based on Phone Contacts
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
WhatsApp is testing a birthday reminder feature on Android that alerts users of upcoming birthdays based on dates saved in their phone contacts, aiming to enhance in-app greetings without compromising privacy.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- WhatsApp is developing an in-app birthday reminder based on contact list data.
- The feature appears only if birthdays are saved in the phone's contact cards.
- Users can view upcoming birthdays and quickly send greetings within WhatsApp.
- Unlike Telegram, WhatsApp does not pull birthdays from user profiles or share them publicly.
- The feature is currently in internal beta for Android with no release date announced.
- WhatsApp’s birthday reminder is separate from its age verification data collection.
WhatsApp is developing a new birthday reminder center that will notify users of upcoming birthdays within the app. The feature, currently in internal beta testing on Android, will gather birthday dates from the phone's contact list rather than from WhatsApp profiles. This means reminders will only appear if the user has already saved the birthday date in the contact card on their device.
The birthday center will provide a dedicated screen showing upcoming celebrations, allowing users to quickly open chats and send greetings on the special day. Unlike Telegram, which allows users to add birthdays to their profiles and control visibility, WhatsApp’s system relies solely on locally stored contact information, aiming to reduce privacy concerns by avoiding public birthday databases.
However, this approach may limit the feature’s usefulness since many users do not save birthdays in their contacts. WhatsApp has not introduced options to request or sync birthdays between users, nor will the feature include profile decorations or digital gifts like Telegram’s birthday functions. The birthday reminder is intended as a personal tool to connect existing contact data with the messaging platform.
This development is separate from WhatsApp’s ongoing efforts to collect birth years from some users for age verification purposes, which is not linked to the birthday reminder feature. WhatsApp often tests new features for months and may alter or cancel them before public release. Currently, the birthday center is only in development for Android, with no announced plans for iOS availability.
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