Retail News CRM

Tag: messaging

  • WhatsApp to increase group audio and video call limit in upcoming update

    WhatsApp to increase group audio and video call limit in upcoming update

    The current global crisis has led to an increase in communication services usage, but it looks like they’re able to cope with the demand for the time being. Even though it seems that there’s enough bandwidth to accommodate the spike in usage, many of these services require improvements.

    WhatsApp is in the process of upgrading its mobile apps with a couple of improvements that are meant to allow multiple users to participate in audio and video calls. WABetaInfo has learned that WhatsApp plans to extend group audio and video call limit on Android and iOS devices.

    Currently, WhatsApp users can initiate group calls with up to 4 participants, but a future update will increase the number of participants that you can invite in a group call to at least 6. It’s unclear what the final number will be, but we do know that WhatsApp will apply the same enhancements to the video call group feature.

    Neither of these improvements is available in the beta version of WhatsApp yet, but they are evident in some strings of code discovered by WABetaInfo. The changes are expected to be implemented in both Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp, but we don’t know when exactly they will be rolled out.

  • WhatsApp to increase group audio and video call limit in upcoming update

    WhatsApp to increase group audio and video call limit in upcoming update

    The current global crisis has led to an increase in communication services usage, but it looks like they’re able to cope with the demand for the time being. Even though it seems that there’s enough bandwidth to accommodate the spike in usage, many of these services require improvements.

    WhatsApp is in the process of upgrading its mobile apps with a couple of improvements that are meant to allow multiple users to participate in audio and video calls. WABetaInfo has learned that WhatsApp plans to extend group audio and video call limit on Android and iOS devices.

    Currently, WhatsApp users can initiate group calls with up to 4 participants, but a future update will increase the number of participants that you can invite in a group call to at least 6. It’s unclear what the final number will be, but we do know that WhatsApp will apply the same enhancements to the video call group feature.

    Neither of these improvements is available in the beta version of WhatsApp yet, but they are evident in some strings of code discovered by WABetaInfo. The changes are expected to be implemented in both Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp, but we don’t know when exactly they will be rolled out.

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  • WhatsApp for iOS to make it trickier to share images and links with recent contacts

    WhatsApp for iOS to make it trickier to share images and links with recent contacts

    Recently, WhatsApp has been fighting misinformation in regards to the coronavirus pandemic and has therefore introduced some restrictions on its app. This time, however, a new update is supposedly going to further restrict the app, but not because of COVID-19-related reasons. The change is said to affect only the iOS version of the popular messaging app.

    WABetaInfo reports that a feature for easy sharing of images and links on iPhone devices is going to be removed in the latest WhatsApp beta version. The feature was introduced earlier this year and is referred to as share sheet integration, which allowed, after long-pressing on what you want to share, to select a person in a list of recently used WhatsApp contacts and share the item without opening the app first.

    Unfortunately, though, this simple-looking feature seems to be proving unstable and its removal seems not to be related to the fight against the coronavirus misinformation. Reportedly, a lot of users have been complaining from crashes when using the feature.

    You will still be able to share links and images to your WhatsApp contacts, but you will have to first tap on the WhatsApp icon, which will reportedly then open the app. Additionally, the feature could be returned to the app at a later stage if the app’s developers find a way to assure it’s more stable.

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  • Google could be dropping the Hangouts branding

    Google could be dropping the Hangouts branding

    Hangouts Meet was renamed to Google Meet on the company’s Support page, suggesting that a change in the namings of Hangouts Chat and Hangouts, the app, may also follow. The name change has been previously hinted at, with the Hangouts Meet service being referred to as Google Meet in the past, by Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

    In addition, it doesn’t make much sense for Hangouts and Hangouts Chat to be two separate consumer apps, and Google is likely to replace one with the other soon. “Classic Hangouts,” as it has been referred to for the last few years, maybe shutting down soon, and we initially reported on its expected 2020 retirement back in 2018. A Google spokesperson reached out to us at the time, explaining that “classic Hangouts” users will be migrated to the Chat and Meet services, suggesting already active plans of its retirement back then.

    And if this recent change in naming translates to other Hangouts products, that would likely bring the end of both Hangouts as branding, and the “classic Hangouts” service.

    Hangouts were first developed as a feature to Google’s social network Google+, but later became its own standalone product after it was well-received by users even if Google+ wasn’t. It’s currently available as an app on both Android and iOS, still simply named Hangouts, likely to be renamed or replaced later. Alternatively, Google offers Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet, which are a consumer and business-oriented conferencing tools respectively. Those are likely to officially become Google Chat and Google Meet soon.

    We’re expecting to see these changes as 2020 progresses, though none of it is officially confirmed or certain yet.

    Meanwhile, popular Hangouts Meet rival conferencing app Zoom has been suffering a shareholder lawsuit, along with several bans from schools and companies like SpaceX, over mounting security concerns.

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  • WhatsApp might launch self-destructing messages feature for individual accounts

    WhatsApp might launch self-destructing messages feature for individual accounts

    We already know that WhatsApp has been working on a self-destructing message feature. What we don’t know is when it will be made available to everyone and in what form. The self-destructing messages feature is quite common in apps like Snapchat and Telegram, but WhatsApp doesn’t yet include the functionality.

    However, we know that WhatsApp tested the feature since last October, but decided to limit it to groups chat. The good news is the latest version of WhatsApp beta reintroduces self-destruct messages for individual accounts.

    Unfortunately, since it’s still in the beta, WhatsApp might change its mind again and either limit its availability to a certain group of users or not release it at all. Well, the important thing WhatsApp has reconsidered its strategy and plans to bring it to all users, not just to some of them.

    Those of you who have access to WhatsApp beta for Android will find the new feature in the Settings menu of each chat. Make sure to tap Delete messages and choose how long new messages will last before they are deleted. You can select from several options: Off, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 1 year.

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  • Dark mode now rolling out to WhatsApp on Android and iOS

    Dark mode now rolling out to WhatsApp on Android and iOS

    WhatsApp is finally adding a native dark mode to its Android and iOS apps. The company announced today that “the most requested feature from people around the world” is now rolling out to Android and iOS devices over the next couple of days.

    As one might expect, the new dark mode is meant to reduce eye strain in low light environments. The dark theme created by WhatsApp isn’t really black, but a special dark gray background and off-white color, which is supposed to lower the brightness of the screen and improve contrast and readability.

    If you have an Android 9.0 Pie phone, you can enable the new dark mode after you updated WhatsApp by going to Settings / Chats / Theme and select Dark. For those lucky to own an Android 10 phone, the new dark mode can be enabled from the system settings instead.

    The same goes for those using an iPhone, the new dark mode can be enabled from the system settings. As mentioned above, dark mode will make it to Android and iOS devices in the coming days on the latest version of the app, so sit tight until it becomes available for download.
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  • WhatsApp private group links visible in Google search results

    WhatsApp private group links visible in Google search results

    Journalist Jordan Wildon stated on Twitter that WhatsApp groups may not be as secure as people thought they were and shared a screenshot, showing some links to groups appearing in Google search results. Apparently, when users create a link to send to someone to join their group, it gets indexed by Google and is accessible.

    A WhatsApp’s spokesperson reminded people that links that should be private shouldn’t be disclosed on publicly accessible websites, apparently explaining that the issue was due to unreasonable public posting of some links. When a link for a private group is posted on publicly available websites, it can be used by anyone to join the group and in consequence, see all the messages in it.

    However, reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong’s post on Twitter regarding the situation brings another perspective on it – she is stating this situation was a result of a misconfiguration which allowed around 470,000 Group Invite links to be indexed, and not because someone has not been careful enough when sharing private links. According to her, WhatsApp could change certain configurations in order to exclude the invite pages from appearing in search engines.

    Nevertheless, for the time being, WhatsApp maintains the position that this is intended behavior, not a bug.

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  • WhatsApp for iOS remains without dark mode

    WhatsApp for iOS remains without dark mode

    The iOS version of WhatsApp is one of the not so many popular apps that doesn’t have a dark theme yet. Facebook delayed the release of this long-awaited feature for so long that we were not even sure it was still coming or not.

    But it looks like Facebook does plan to add a dark mode to WhatsApp for iOS, it’s just that it takes the company a lot longer than anyone would have expected. Although we would have wanted this story to be about the new dark mode coming to WhatsApp, it’s not.

    However, if you have access to WhatsApp beta builds on your iPhone, you’ll be pleased to know that Facebook has started to test dark mode.

    This specific version of WhatsApp for iOS is only available through Apple’s TestFlight platform, and can only be tested on an iPhone. Also, the beta version will only be available for download to select testers.

    We have no idea how long it will take Facebook to bring dark theme to WhatsApp for iOS, but it shouldn’t be long now that the feature is ready for public testing.

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  • Chatbots still have their place, according to Microsoft

    Chatbots still have their place, according to Microsoft

    The early generation of chatbots may have had their day – but the concept is not yet dead, says a senior Microsoft executive.

    Raj Raguneethan, regional business lead, retail and consumer goods, at Microsoft Asia, told Inside Retail Asia that the standard chatbot question and order queue format is gone.

    “But we have advanced deployments of a chatbot which can fully integrate into the whole call-center back office and all the way online. You can ask questions, it will connect back to your back office systems tell you when your order is going to be delivered, you can ask questions and it tells you that you can buy this product from this store, and here is a promotional offer for you.”

    Early renditions of chatbots often succeeded in only infuriating consumers with clumsy interfaces, irrelevant answers and being all-too-obviously artificial. The end result: consumers often consider old-style chatbots as insincere, an image unsurprisingly transferred to the brand itself.

    “We have seen customers continue to use them,” says Raguneethan. “It’s not so much chatbot, it’s about cognitive services which are fully integrated.”

    He explains that advanced cognitive services-based solutions that are connected to the same system used by customer call centres, can use chatbots that provide real service and assistance to shoppers.

    “So it’s how you deploy and how you leverage them that is the key. If you just deploy them for an FAQ, it’s probably not interesting. But if you really deploy them connecting into all the systems you have, then you are delivering a superior experience.”

    Raguneethan says new-generation chatbot technology should be able to provide customers with real-time, accurate information about the delivery status of a product they have ordered.

    “Or, I should be able to come in and say ‘I want to buy a shirt, I’m looking for this brand’, you should be able to tell me sorry it’s not here in this store, you can order online, or you can go to this store, or we will place an order for you to pick up from this store.”

    “If you deploy chatbot technology in those scenarios, you will definitely see a difference.”

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  • With ads out of the picture, how Facebook will monetize WhatsApp

    With ads out of the picture, how Facebook will monetize WhatsApp

    There are many different kinds of mobile payment services available depending on the phone in a user’s hand. There is Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and LG Pay just to name a few. And these create streams of cash for the companies providing this service. For example, Apple earns .15% of the amount of each transaction where Apple Pay is used. For example, if you use Apple Pay to cover a $200 purchase, Apple receives 30 cents. While that doesn’t sound like a lot of money, Apple has been averaging over 11 million Apple Pay transactions per day.
    The promise of getting paid a small percentage of millions of transactions every day is attracting another player to the business. During Facebook’s conference call last week (following the release of its latest quarterly earnings report), co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed plans to turn WhatsApp and Messenger into private platforms that will allow users to connect to businesses. This is similar to the plans that the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI) has for Android users through the Rich Communication Services (RCS) app that they plan on disseminating some time this year. RCS is the next generation of messaging for Android and the CCMI is made up of the four major U.S. wireless providers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint).

    While talking about his plans, Zuckerberg said, “One example that we’ve been working on is WhatsApp Payments where you’re going to be able to send money as quickly and easily as sending a photo.” And the executive even revealed a timeframe. “I’m really excited about this, and I expect this to start rolling out in a number of countries and for us to make a lot of progress here in the next six months. We got approval to test this with one million people in India back in 2018. And when so many of the people kept using it week after week, we knew it was going to be big when we get to launch.”

    WhatsApp Pay’s rollout may be limited at first to developing countries where WhatsApp is used to connect consumers with businesses. In India, the service uses the National Payments Corporation of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The latter allows peer-to-peer payments and business transactions to be conducted through bank accounts. Not yet fully licensed in India, WhatsApp Pay is in Pilot Mode in the country. Discussing the plans, Zuckerberg said, “We’re taking a number of different approaches here, ranging from people buying and selling to each other directly to businesses setting up storefronts, to people engaging with businesses directly through messaging and a number of things on payments –using existing national systems like India’s UPI to creating new global systems.” Once WhatsApp Pay is fully licensed in India, it will reach 400 million Indians.
    Zuckerberg says that handling transactions and facilitating business is going to be important for his company’s properties that include Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. In fact, last month Facebook decided not to monetize WhatsApp by placing ads on the app which makes it more important for services like WhatsApp Pay to be offered in as many countries as possible.
    Facebook ended up acquiring WhatsApp for $21.8 billion in cash and company stock; the deal closed in October 2014. The deal originally called for payments of $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in stock, but Facebook shares appreciated in value between the time the deal was announced and when it closed. When Facebook purchased WhatsApp, it quickly removed the $1 annual subscription fee that users were being charged; with over 1.5 billion users globally, this seemingly insignificant fee would be bringing in over $1.5 billion a year. Offering commerce services like WhatsApp Pay seems the best way for Facebook to monetize its purchase of the app without greatly offending users.
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  • WhatsApp is rolling out dark mode to beta users on Android

    WhatsApp is rolling out dark mode to beta users on Android

    Great news for WhatsApp users: developers are finally adding a dark mode to the Android app. The downside is that it’s only available for beta users, which means it will take at least one more week for the new feature to be rolled out to everyone.

    The folks at Wabetainfo learned recently that the latest version of WhatsApp submitted by developers through the Google Play Beta Program contains one important new feature – the long-awaited dark theme.

    If you’re a beta tester, you must update WhatsApp to version 2.20.13 or newer in order to see the new dark mode. It’s possible that you won’t be seeing the new feature even after updating to this specific version.

    In that case, you can back up your chat history if you think it’s necessary, uninstall the app and then reinstall it. This way the app will download the most recent software from the server, so you’ll most likely be able to start using the new dark mode.

    The new Dark Theme option appears in the WhatsApp Settings / Chats. You have three choices under Theme: Light, Dark and Set by Battery Saver. If you choose the latter, WhatsApp will automatically switch between light and dark themes according to your Battery Saver settings.

    For those of you who don’t want to install beta software on your Android devices, the dark theme will probably arrive by the end of the month, but that’s just a guesstimate. Just make sure to download any new update for WhatsApp that pops up in the next few weeks or so.
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  • New Year’s Eve was WhatsApp’s biggest messaging day in its 10-year history

    New Year’s Eve was WhatsApp’s biggest messaging day in its 10-year history

    It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since people are using WhatsApp. Luckily, the messaging company is here to remind us that WhatsApp was launched on iPhones back in August 2009. One year latest, the app made it to Android and the world will never be the same for the messaging ecosystem.

    Last year, WhatsApp released an interesting infographic that highlights some of the app’s most important milestones since its release. Today, the messaging service announced that New Year’s Eve was the biggest messaging day in its 10-year history.

    On December 31, 2019, between 12 AM and 11:59 PM, people across the globe sent a record-breaking 100 billion messages on WhatsApp, including over 12 billion photos. Also, in case you’re wondering, here are the five most popular WhatsApp features that people are using throughout the year: text messaging, status, picture messaging, calling, and voice notes.

    Today, WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion users every month and will probably reach 2 billion users by the end of 2020. The app is now present on Android and iOS platforms, but a desktop app is also available since May 2016.

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  • WhatsApp update adds new features for iPhone users

    WhatsApp update adds new features for iPhone users

    WhatsApp is testing a lot of features before bringing them to the general public, and many times we report on these improvements if they’re newsworthy. Today, we have news about another update that all iPhone users should be able to get via the App Store.

    The most important change is the ability to play voice messages directly from notifications. This can be done by long-pressing and tapping play. Also, WhatsApp users will now be able to change font styles in the camera by tapping the T icon.

    Furthermore, the latest version of WhatsApp for iOS allows users to quickly edit and send back media in their chats. Simply tap the doodle icon when viewing an image or video and should be on the right track.

    Last but not least, memoji can now be sent as stickers from the emoji keyboard on iOS 13. To benefit from all these changes mentioned above, make sure your WhatsApp app is updated to version 2.19.100.

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  • WhatsApp close to adding fingerprint locking feature to Android app

    WhatsApp close to adding fingerprint locking feature to Android app

    WhatsApp is quietly testing new ways to make its mobile app more secure. The latest addition to the Android app could be the fingerprint locking feature, which is now being tested in the beta channel.

    WhatsApp has been working on the fingerprint locking feature for quite a few months now, but the new function is not yet ready for prime time. Previously known as Authentication or Screen Lock, the new feature can be enabled from the Settings menu under the Account / Privacy tabs.

    Keep in mind though that you will still be able to reply to messages directly from notifications, as well as answer WhatsApp calls since the app will only ask you for authentication when you want to open WhatsApp.

    Fingerprint lock will also allow users to choose when they must authenticate to use the app, but they can also choose when exactly WhatsApp will automatically lock after use: immediately, after 1 minute, after 30 minutes.

    For the time being, the new feature is available only in WhatsApp for Android beta, although you need version 2.19.221 or newer to find it in the Settings menu. If everything goes well during tests, Fingerprint Lock might be deployed to all Android users in the next couple of weeks.

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