Communities to message reactions — Five upcoming WhatsApp features to look forward to

WhatsApp has had an eventful year with backlash from users over updating its privacy policies to introducing some major updates. It continues to be the most popular messaging app globally with over 2.5 billion active users.

WhatsApp rolled out some major features this year such as voice and video calling on desktop, chat transfer from iOS to Android, disappearing photos and videos, and more. It continues to work on more features and we have quite a lot to expect from the Meta-owned platform. So here’s a look at some of the upcoming WhatsApp features.

Communities

WhatsApp has been spotted testing this feature called “communities”. According to WABetaInfo, communities on WhatsApp will allow group admins to create communities of groups which could be sub-groups or a collection of groups. Communities will also have a squared icon with rounded edges unlike group chat icons that are round in shape. This feature is expected to let group admins bring related groups together under one community so it’s easier to send messages and communicate at once.

Sticker store

WhatsApp has become serious about its desktop/web app. It recently launched a tool to make stickers directly from images on its desktop and web apps. WhatsApp is now testing a sticker store from where you can choose the sticker you want to send someone through the desktop or web app. You get the same sticker apps that are available on WhatsApp’s mobile apps but you can’t download them to your laptop or PC. This feature is currently available for beta testers.

Message reactions

WhatsApp is also working on the ability to react to messages in chats. Just like Facebook and Instagram, this feature lets you react to messages with various emojis. Based on its current tests, WhatsApp has six emoji reactions, and you can see who reacted with which emoji. This feature is currently in development with no word on when it will be released.

More control for group admins

WhatsApp is planning to give group admins more control with this new feature. Group admins will soon be able to delete any message sent in the group chat. If any message is deleted by the group admin, then the same will be visible by other members of the group. This feature is expected to arrive in a future update of WhatsApp.

Forward stickers without saving them

WhatsApp is also adding a shortcut button to stickers so you can easily forward them without having to first save it. At present, you have to save the sticker and then open the menu to forward it. But this feature that is available to beta testers will let you forward a sticker easily.

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