Details about newest features for WhatsApp
WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, is rolling out a big update in the next few weeks. You can check out the full blog post for yourself, but I’m going to cover a few of the highlights. I often research messaging, connection, social media, etc, so when updates like this hit the industry leaders, I like to cover what’s coming/changing so that we know what to expect from competitors in response.
Animated Stickers
It’s fascinating to me that we are creating more and more ways to express ourselves visually in our messaging apps. We have emojis, avatars, gifs, memes, stickers, and now animated stickers in WhatsApp. And this is happening for good reason — there’s a psychological benefit to infusing your message with personality or tone by an accompanying image. We use them for punctuation. We use them for emotion. The images themselves have become the message, and now they’re moving. So if you’re a stickers person, get ready for all the animation you can handle.
QR Codes
No, QR Codes themselves aren’t debuting on the platform–that’s been there. But the ability to add a new contact through QR Codes is showing up. If you’re in a social setting, and you want to share your number with someone, this will be an extremely efficient way of doing it. A simple scan and the contact is filled out in the other person’s phone. I’ll be curious to see if this makes its way at an OS level in either Android or iOS. That’s the interesting part about features showing up in the world’s most popular app (by category)–those features then usually trickle out to other areas as well.
Bigger Group Calls
In recent months, we’ve seen a ton of video call apps expand the features they offer. Given current world-wide situations, that makes a ton of sense. Yes, these apps are expanding features to provide customers with better connected experiences with family/friends. But, they’re also doing it to keep up with the competition. WhatsApp doesn’t want you to have to switch over to Skype for the big group call you need to make. It wants you to stay right where you are. So, it’s expanding group calls to 8 people in a single video call. Eight videos in a single call will obviously crowd your screen, especially depending on what phone you have. Thankfully, is will also allow you to zoom into a specific person with an easy touch of the screen.
Desktop Dark Mode
As someone who enjoys messaging from desktop and someone who switches to dark mode periodically, the addition of dark mode on the desktop is a welcome feature. Not only is it beneficial on the ol’ eyes, but it also brings ubiquity across platforms, which I’m also a fan of. I know I’m not the only one who has been blinded by my laptop screen while in bed with all the lights off. Now, at least WhatsApp won’t be the culprit. (It’ll be the Google search page.)
Final Thoughts
And that’s really all you need to know about the upcoming WhatsApp update. It’s refining the experience for its users, focusing on ease and convenience. And as I’ve said already, being such a monolith in the industry, we’ll probably see responses from other messaging platforms soon. I’ll keep my eyes out and will keep you posted.