WhatsApp is planning to introduce a range of new features that could really up your game.
As the brand undergoes an overhaul, the last few months have seen them change the colour of everything to a uniform green, which caused an uproar on social media.
The app has also introduced AI features called ‘Meta AI’ which will allow for people to ask for conversation prompts, answer your questions and teach you something.
So, what is WhatsApp planning next? Turns out, it’s a few things to do with the status bar. Facebook 2.0, anyone?
Upgrade to video calls which can be done in a group
Group calls are about to get more exciting because soon people will be able to have backgrounds and filters on their video calls.
Some of the options will be quite fun and people can choose to have a generic living room, or a simple blur effect, as well as being in a fake office or a cafe, or themes including pebbles, food and something called smoosh.
You could also choose to have a background of being on a beach, in front of a sunset, at a celebration or in a forest.
Filters are even an option, where you will be able to have warm, cool, black & white, light leak, dreamy, prism light, fisheye, vintage tv, frosted glass and duo tone.
WhatsApp has said this feature has not been released just yet, but it will be coming out in the next few weeks.
New image search feature
Right now, this feature is available for users of WhatsApp beta for Android but it’s a pretty cool one.
This update will allow users to search shared images on the web. But what does that mean exactly?
The image search tool will allow you to find more information about a specific image you have received so you can see if the image is fake or out of context to tackle misinformation.
The way this will work, according to WABetaInfo, is when users initiate a search for an image, it will be uploaded to Google to find it for you, but this will not be shared within WhatsApp.
As a result, users may also use this feature to look at the legitimacy of images shared in their conversations from news stories, social media posts or even memes.
View messages in draft
Also available in beta form for iPhone and Android, this useful feature will help you keep messages in a draft form in case you want to save them for later or you just need to make a note.
The unsent message will come up in the ‘saved draft’ feature, in a similar way to Instagram, which will make it easier to spot rather than having to open an individual chat.
WABetaInfo said: ‘This feature is particularly useful as it allows users to keep track of conversations that have been left incomplete without needing to open each chat individually.’
You can mention people in your status update
This feature has already begun to roll out but just proves how quickly WhatsApp engineers are working.
In this feature, called Private Mentions, you will be able to tag specific people who you want to see your status.
These lucky people will be notified directly and privately, and the mentions won’t appear anywhere on your status.
Those you tag with Private Mentions will be able to re-share your status.
New default chat themes
If you don’t like the WhatsApp green, this could be the move for you.
WhatsApp is introducing a new default chat theme which will allow users to customise the appearance of their chat by selecting their preferred colour for chat bubbles and wallpapers.
And soon users will be able to pick their favourite.
WABetaInfo said: ‘As you can see from the attached screenshot, WhatsApp is exploring the implementation of new themes with multiple design styles for the Android app, scheduled for release in a future update.’
Block messages from unknown contacts
In their ongoing mission to protect privacy, WhatsApp will be rolling out a new feature that will block messages from unknown accounts.
This means WhatsApp will automatically block messages from unknown accounts if they exceed a certain volume of message in an aim to protect users from unwanted or potentially harmful messages.
This feature will also reduce the amount of spam and unwanted messages that can strain the app. However, there has been no news on when this feature will be released.
Create polls in status updates
In a measure of true popularity, WhatsApp will be adding poll stickers to status updates in case you wanted to ask a question specifically on your WhatsApp status.
This means that others will be able to vote on your status poll, but will not be able to see who else voted for which option.
The feature will appear as a content sticker, making it easier for users to place a poll directly onto a status update.
WABetaInfo said: ‘While it’s still unclear how votes are transmitted to other people who view the status update, we can already confirm that the overall process ensures that polls shared via status updates will be end-to-end encrypted. This encryption means that the content of the poll, including its options and results, is securely transmitted and can only be accessed by the status creator and the viewers.’
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