After being spotted in development earlier this year, the Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp has announced that Reactions and Communities features are now official. The company also detailed other minor improvements that narrow the gap between the platform and its rivals like Telegram and Signal.
In a press release discussing these changes, WhatsApp explained that Reactions is designed to make it easier to share your opinion on a message “without flooding chats with new messages.” As the rumors suggested, the feature implementation resembles emoji reactions on other Meta group companies, including Instagram and Facebook. For starters, you can react with just six emojis — 👍❤️😂😢😮🙏. WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart says the array of available emojis will expand in the future.
We’re excited to announce that reactions are coming to WhatsApp starting with 👍❤️😂😮😢🙏 and with all emojis and skin-tones to come. pic.twitter.com/086JnVS5Ey
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) April 14, 2022
Another long-rumored change making its way to scores of WhatsApp users with this update is the new 2GB attachment file size limit so “people can easily collaborate on projects.” The feature was previously being tested in Argentina. This is a huge step up from the 100MB limit enforced earlier.
Besides this, Meta is also adding a new Communities feature to WhatsApp using which people can “bring together separate groups under one umbrella with a structure that works for them.” This change means admins will now have powerful tools such as posting announcement messages and tools needed to remove inappropriate messages from everyone’s chat. Cathcart adds that Communities will be at the center of WhatsApp’s development efforts in “the year to come.”
Lastly, the instant messaging platform announced that one-tap voice calling for up to 32 people would also be rolled out with a new design soon.
We’ll also support larger file sharing up to 2GB at a time and 32 person group conference calls you can start with just one tap.
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) April 14, 2022
However, the announcement detailing these improvements did not specify a timeline by when the users will be able to use Communities, Reactions, and the new 2GB file size limit. Now that these features are official, a rollout should be right around the corner. Are you looking forward to using these features? Which one would you find the most useful? Tell us in the comments.
[Via Meta]
