WhatsApp
will soon roll out 4 feature updates to users. Users will be able to send
images that can only be viewed once, similar to Snapchat. The view once feature
is currently available to WhatsApp iOS beta users. iOS beta users will see an
updated how message notification. It will allow users to see a message in the
notification itself. Archived chats will remain on mute by default. Users will
manually need to check archived chats for any new messages. Multi-device
support is now available on the WhatsApp desktop beta.
See also: 3 Feature Updates: Facebook Portal, Google Calendar & Tiktok
There isn’t any fixed date for when these updates will become available to all users but
WhatsApp has started rolling out the features to more users and seems close to
a wide release. More details below:
View Once
Messages
View once
messages will bring Snapchat-like capability to WhatsApp. When users are
sharing an image from their gallery or have taken a picture from the WhatsApp
camera, there will see a new icon in the caption field. The icon will have the
number ‘1’ in it. Users need to tap that icon to send the image as ‘view once’.
The recipient of the image will not see a preview. They will only be able to
view the image once. After they exit the window, the image will disappear.
Senders will receive a notification once the image has been viewed. The feature
is not limited to images but applies to different types of media. It can be
used for video files as well.
Read
messages without ‘read receipts’
How new
message notifications are displayed will be updated. Users will be able to
expand the notification banner and see the full message in the notification panel
itself. They will also be able to scroll up to see chat history as well. No, read receipt, i.e. blue tick will be sent until you open the chat window.
Mute
archived chats
WhatsApp is
also changing how archive chats work. Archived chats will now be on mute by default.
If users want to see any new messages that many have come on these chats they
will need to open them.
Multi-device support
WhatsApp
users have eagerly been awaiting multi-device support. WhatsApp can only be
used from a single device. There is WhatsApp web but that requires the primary
device to be connected to the internet and provide authorization. With multi-device support, users will be able to run WhatsApp on up to four devices without
any reliance on the primary device. Commenting on the feature Facebook (parent
company of WhatsApp) head honcho, Mark Zuckerberg said, “It’s been a big
technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly
across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we’ve solved this and
we’re looking forward to getting it out soon.” The feature is currently available
to desktop beta testers.
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