New Delhi: 2021 was a busy year with some major updates and features in WhatsApp as well as criticism and backlash from users and even governments. But WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app worldwide with over 2.5 billion active users.
In 2021, WhatsApp introduced some new features like voice and video calling on desktop, chat transfer from iOS to Android, missing photos and videos, sticker maker tool and many more. It also regularly tests the service and some of which can be used by WhatsApp beta users. Any new update or feature on WhatsApp is always in the news and this app is expected to be in news in 2022 as far as new features are concerned.
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message responses
Message reaction will be a major update for WhatsApp even though the feature is already available on the social media app. WhatsApp is testing for reactions to messages in chat. The feature will let you react with emoji and currently, six emoji reactions have been confirmed. You’ll also be able to see which emoji reacted to your message.
Community
‘Community’ is another big feature on WhatsApp which will be launched soon. This feature will allow users to group different WhatsApp groups together into a single community. According to the report, WhatsApp will allow you to add 10 groups at once in a community. There will be an ‘Announcement’ section which will be only for those admins through whom a message can be sent which will be received by all the groups in the community. The community will also have a square icon with rounded edges, as opposed to the group chat icon which is round.
Android to iOS Chat Transfer
WhatsApp has launched a feature this year – chat transfer between iOS and Android. You can transfer your chat history from your iPhone to Android device. It is worth mentioning though, there is no tool to transfer WhatsApp chats from your Android phone to iPhone. But WhatsApp is currently working on this feature and it is expected to roll out soon.
sticker store
Stickers are big on WhatsApp but this feature is not easily available on desktop and web apps. But WhatsApp has added the sticker store to the beta version of its desktop app. Previously, you could not access StickerStore, which has native WhatsApp sticker packs. It is available on the beta app for now, but it is expected that WhatsApp will make it widely available soon. WhatsApp also launched its sticker maker tool for desktop and web apps.
More control for administrators
WhatsApp group chat gives more control to the group chat admin and is planning to expand it. Soon group chat admins on WhatsApp will be able to delete any messages sent by members. If a message has been deleted by the group administrator, it will be notified to everyone in the group. This will be different from a disappearing message as group admins will be able to access it whenever they want.
Nearby Businesses
WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will make it easier for users to search for business on the app. The search tool will have a new section called Business Nearby and you will find many filters like Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Shopping and more. These are like filters for images, videos, gifs on WhatsApp.
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