WhatsApp has announced that it has started rolling out a couple of new features for its users to enjoy. These features have already been previously announced by Meta, the messaging app's parent company.
The new features include emoji reactions, 2GB file sharing, and groups that can accommodate up to 512 people. Two of these three updates will be available if you have the latest version of the app downloaded to your device.
These features are part of the messaging app's efforts to provide secure communication for businesses, organizations, and other close-knit groups.
WhatsApp Rolls Out Emoji Reactions
WhatsApp has started rolling out emoji reactions for its users, a feature that first announced last month. To be able to use the emoji reactions, WhatsApp says that you need to have the latest version of the app first.
A report by The Verge has noted that when the announcement was made by Meta last month, the company said that only a select few emojis will be available in the beginning. However, users can expect more emojis as well as skin tones to be added in the future.
"The reactions are a useful feature, which is why other apps like Slack and Telegram have had them for a while - if you want to be able to show that a message made you laugh without clogging up the group chat, you've now got a way to do that," The Verge says.
The report also says that a company spokesperson has revealed that the roll out for this feature will take about a week. The spokesperson has also mentioned that some users already have it.
Related Article: [RUMOR] WhatsApp May Soon Add Multi-Phone and Tablet Chatting
Larger File Sizes, Bigger Groups
Another feature that WhatsApp is rolling out has to do with file sharing. According to WhatsApp's announcement, users can now share files that are up to 2GB in size at a time.
It is a very big upgrade considering that prior to this change, users can only share files that are up to 100MB in size.
The messaging app adds that it has also added a countdown timer so you know how much time is left before your upload or download completes. WhatsApp has also noted that end-to-end encryption is available to keep file sharing secure on the app.
The increase file size is already available if you have the latest version of the app.
Last and certainly not the least, WhatsApp groups will be able to accommodate up to 512 people instead of the previous 256 cap. However, it should be noted that this particular feature is slowly being rolled out so you may have to wait a little to be able to use it.
The Verge's reported has mentioned that before this change, users have already found ways to work around the cap in group chat participants.
