Here are 8 Big Changes Coming to WhatsApp
The popular communication app WhatsApp is constantly changing with updates for both iOS and Android users.
New features either in the pipeline or soon to be implemented include things such as changes to media forwarding, status updates and ways to interact in groups.
WhatsApp remains one of the most popular texting apps in South Africa, with family groups, community groups and more all having a place to discuss and share information.
According to WhatsApp data service, WABetaInfo, here are a handful of changes you can expect soon:
1. Forwarding media with a caption
WhatsApp has now made it possible to forward media sent to you by another person with a caption underneath it. The new update is for iOS and is currently being rolled out.
Before this update, when you forwarded media – either photos, videos, documents or even GIFs – the caption did not carry across in the message.
The new update is being rolled out on the App Store for some users.
2. Voice status updates
WhatsApp has been developing a new feature to bring voice notes to status updates. This feature which was initially designed for WhatsApp beta on Android, and is not yet a feature on the iOS beta.
With the new feature, you could voice note up to 30 seconds to your status.
3. Mute shortcut for group chats
A feature to mute group chats through a shortcut icon is currently under development by the WhatsApp team.
“A mute shortcut will show up within the header of group chats: thanks to this shortcut, it will be easier to disable notifications of messages received in the group,”
4. Contact card sharing
WhatsApp is now releasing a new update to some users on the Microsoft Store – with people now being able to share contact cards right within the same chat share sheet.
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5. Creating polls
The ability to make a poll for members of the group has been announced by Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for Facebook. However, this feature has been slowly released to all users on mobile devices.
After releasing the feature on WhatsApp beta for Windows – on 22 November – it seems that the rollout is now wider since everyone on the latest version of WhatsApp Desktop can finally create polls.
6. Cross-platform accounts
Whatsapp appears to be trialling a companion mode for the app where Andriod users could be able to use an existing Whastapp account on a secondary Andriod device – this will become a listed device under its selection.
7. Search for messages by date
Whatsapp’s beta for iOS seems to be rolling out the ability to search for messages by date within a chat.
“It will be easier for users to jump to a certain date within a conversation. In reality, this feature was under development two years ago, but WhatsApp only recently returned to develop it again,”
8. Disappearing messages
The messaging app is redesigning its disappearing messages section – making it easier to make old and new chats as disappearing threads with a shortcut.
The group noted that this is currently being rolled out in an Android beta.
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