New features continue to hit WhatsApp like an avalanche, with the app now getting support for adding email addresses to user accounts. This functionality was first introduced for WhatsApp beta users on iOS a few weeks back and is now rolling out widely for all iOS users.
As one would expect, the option to add an email address to a WhatsApp account has been added as an alternative for receiving verification codes. Until now WhatsApp only sent out login codes via SMS or as a pop-up notification on an existing device logged in to the same WhatsApp account as the one that the user is trying to set up on a new device.
It's worth mentioning that email addresses are not replacing phone numbers for logging in or creating new accounts. It is strictly a backup method for verification when the primary means of receiving login codes fail, though nothing is stopping WhatsApp from making it a primary login and account creation method in a future update to the app.
It also bears mentioning that the email address functionality is only available for iOS as of November 21, 2023. The Android version doesn't currently support email address verification in either the beta or stable version of WhatsApp, but that will hopefully not remain the case for long.
