Retail News CRM

Tag: whatsapp

  • WhatsApp now lets you react to messages

    WhatsApp now lets you react to messages

    Last month, we reported that WhatsApp was working on several new features, including search message shortcuts, and message reactions, and now the latter has finally started rolling out to users.

    The feature was first uncovered by WABetaInfo, and it seems that WhatsApp is ready to push message reactions to users running version 2.22.8.3. It is worth mentioning that this version is not the official stable one, and it is only available to Beta testers.

    Nevertheless, the fact that the feature is entering the beta version means that we would probably see it in the final stable release pretty soon. The reactions themselves are pretty similar to what other chat apps have been doing in the past couple of years, the likes of Telegram, Discord, and Slack

    According to WABetaInfo, there are six reactions to choose from – Like, Love, Laugh, Surprised, Sad, and Thanks. Even though message reactions are only available to beta testers at the moment, every WhatsApp user should be able to see them in chats.

    Have you noticed these reactions in your WhatsApp everyday chit-chat?

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp for iOS has a new Contact Info page in the works

    WhatsApp for iOS has a new Contact Info page in the works

    Okay, WhatsApp is looking for ways to further enhance the user experience in its app, and there are many changes coming to the app sooner or later (many of which are currently in beta testing).About one such change the app will be bringing: a revamped Contact Info page, coming to WhatsApp for iOS.

    The redesigned Contact Info page is currently only for WhatsApp on iOS, and it has been rolled out to beta testers. The page is similar to what the app did with Business accounts, but now, it is for personal accounts. The changed Contact Info page was spotted by WABetaInfo with version 22.6.0.73 for WhatsApp for iOS.

    As we already mentioned, this look is still in beta, so it is not available to the general public as of now. Usually, WhatsApp takes its time to release new features, but currently, there isn’t an official timeline as to when this update will be made available to everyone.

    The new Contact Info page brings larger buttons for calls, as well as a new search message shortcut. For Business accounts, there is also a page dubbed Business Info there, which is, quite understandably, not available for personal WhatsApp accounts.

    Interestingly enough, according to WABetaInfo, some users can get access to the revamped Contact Info page even if they are not a part of the beta testers, which means, that for some, it is available on the stable version of the app (including WhatsApp Business users).

    Another useful feature that WhatsApp is planning to implement, specifically for Businesses, is called “Businesses Nearby”, and as its name suggests, it will be able to help you find nearby businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores, shops for clothes, and others.

    And on top of that, WhatsApp is also currently working on its Community feature, something that was previewed by WABetaInfo in November of last year. It is basically a new place where group admins will have control over WhatsApp groups, pretty much helpful if you have many WhatsApp groups and want to have a more simple way to group them together and organize them.

    The company has been working on a lot of new features recently, which are aimed at adding value to the popular chat app. Of course, as the name suggests, the poll feature will allow you to create polls (we don’t know with how many options as of yet), in order to check out the group’s opinion on something or just carry out a regular voting session.

    The poll option will be available only for WhatsApp groups, and it will be end-to-end encrypted, including the answers the other users give to it. As many of you may probably know, end-to-end encryption is something WhatsApp is quite popular with, and it will be present for the poll feature as well. This pretty much means only the people in the group will be able to get access to the poll and its results.

    And as this is a feature in its beta testing period, an official release date is not announced for it yet. As usual, beta testers will get to see how this feature works first, as WhatsApp works to get rid of any bugs and improve on it before it launches it for the general public.

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp working on a useful Telegram-like poll feature for groups

    WhatsApp working on a useful Telegram-like poll feature for groups

    A feature that Telegram has had for years is now going to be present in WhatsApp. The ability to create polls in group chats is something that WhatsApp is currently working on, and should make its way to a future WhatsApp version.

    Polls are a great way to interact with a large group of people and are quite helpful to reach a decision or to know what your group of friends thinks about an idea. Telegram, another popular instant messaging app, has had this feature for a while now, and WhatsApp is finally testing it to implement it to WhatsApp users.

    WABetaInfo was the first to discover the feature in WhatsApp for iOS beta version v2.22.6.70. The feature is still under development, so it is not available for public beta testers right now.

    The poll option will be available only for WhatsApp groups, and it will be end-to-end encrypted, including the answers the other users give to it. Basically, end-to-end encryption is something WhatsApp is quite popular with, and it will be present for the poll feature as well. This pretty much means only the people in the group will be able to get access to the poll and its results.

    As you can see on the screenshot, there will be a new user interface with a text field for your question, accompanied by a Create button, as well as a Cancel button. However, as this feature is still under development, it is still unknown what the maximum number of options will be if there will be any restrictions on the number of responses or how long you will be able to vote on a poll.

    And as this is a feature in beta, an official release date is not yet announced for it. As usual, beta testers will get to see how this feature works first, as WhatsApp works to get rid of any bugs and improve on it before it launches it for the general public.

    The poll option has currently been spotted in the iOS version of the popular chat app, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be coming to Android. In the meantime, WhatsApp has also been testing many other useful features. Let’s see what the most recent features currently in testing for the chat app are.

    Currently, you have a somewhat lengthy process to follow if you wish to search from your messages in WhatsApp, which includes locating a specific chat or group chat window, then tapping on the three-dots menu and searching. However, it seems that the app will be getting a simpler way to search for a message in a future update.

    WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.22.6.3 brings a new search shortcut to solve this issue. Although it sounds similar to WhatsApp’s current solution for searches, it is different in the way that it allows you to search right from the info page of personal contacts and groups, without having to go to a specific group or chat where you think the message was sent.

    Apart from that, WhatsApp is also working on the long-awaited message reactions, which will allow you to express your reaction to a message with an emoji.

    Another feature that WhatsApp is working on is a redesigned voice call user interface. Beta version 22.5.0.70 is showing a revamped user interface that should be coming to the app. With the new improved voice call UI, you will be able to see real-time voice waveforms are going to come to calls. The app has recently rolled out similar waveforms for audio messages.

    Keep in mind that, as these features here are in beta, which they may change as they undergo development before they get their official global release.

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp for iOS has a redesigned voice call UI in the works

    WhatsApp for iOS has a redesigned voice call UI in the works

    WhatsApp has been working quite hard on improving the user experience in the app amidst all its rising rivals such as Signal and Telegram. Now, the app is working on a redesigned user interface for voice calls for iPhones, a feature that’s currently rolling out to WhatsApp beta testers on iOS.

    For a while now, WhatsApp has been working to improve the voice call experience, and now, the beta version 22.5.0.70 is showing a revamped user interface that should be coming to the app.

    Keep in mind that, as this is beta, the feature may change as it undergoes development before its official global release. With that being said, let’s explore what WhatsApp is working on to make your voice call experience on its app a better one.

    Here’s an image from version 22.5.0.70 (beta of WhatsApp for iOS), which shows the improved interface for group calls. It seems that real-time voice waveforms are going to come to calls. The app has recently rolled out similar waveforms for audio messages.

    This change will help you see who is currently talking, and also could be useful to determine who needs to mute their microphone (yeah, we all know those group call situations when someone has left their mic on and therefore distracts you from whatever the speaker is saying).

    On top of that, WhatsApp will be getting wallpapers for voice calls; however, they are not currently editable with this beta.

    Earlier, WhatsApp started working on a redesigned voice call interface that should look more modern and neatly organized. It is still under development, and at least at first glimpse, looks quite familiar to the current one. The point of this redesign is to make the UI more user-friendly and modern. On the other hand, there will be some more UI tweaks that are not visible in the screenshot below that could make their way to the official release.

    WhatsApp has been working hard to make its chat app as good as it could be, and as feature-rich as it could get for the best user experience. The app will soon be getting indicators for end-to-end encryption (as you may probably know, WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted for a few years).

    With an update coming sometime in the future, the app will be getting new visuals to assure you that everything you say stays between you and the people you’re chatting with.

    Additionally, recently we reported on the fact that WhatsApp could finally be getting a dedicated iPad app. WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart recently hinted at a possible WhatsApp for iPad release and the company seems to be working on it.

    The thing is that the data encrypted on WhatsApp wasn’t allowing for the company to safely sync it across multiple devices so far. However, as data encryption technology evolves, WhatsApp is working to make an iPad app a reality.

    “Our web and our desktop apps now have that. If I have multi-device on, I can turn my phone off or lose my network connection and still get messages on my desktop. That would be really important for a tablet app, to be able to use the app even if your phone isn’t on. So the underlying technology is there.”, stated Cathcart, giving some hope to users who have been wanting an iPad WhatsApp app.

    The beta version of multi-device support that was created last year allows users to link up to four devices at a time to their account. However, the downside of this feature was that it needed your phone to be connected to the internet the whole time for it to work. Last fall, WhatsApp introduced a new multi-device beta for iOS that can work without your iPhone connected to the internet.

  • WhatsApp’s unlimited Google Drive backups may be coming to an end

    WhatsApp’s unlimited Google Drive backups may be coming to an end

    So far, WhatsApp has been offering unlimited storage on Google Drive for WhatsApp backups. The company offers backup options to iCloud as well (for iPhone users), there, it has been limited to whatever storage tier the iPhone user has. Now, something similar might be happening for Android users.

    The popular chat app seems to be planning a change regarding backups on Android phones. Lines in the code of the app point to the fact that WhatsApp may be losing its unlimited Google Drive storage option for backups. This news comes after the info that WhatsApp could be letting you manage the size of your backup in the near future.

    The code was first discovered by WABetaInfo, and it is a hidden code that references Google Drive limits.

    Keep in mind that the date on which this will happen is still unknown, so for now, you can still benefit from unlimited storage on Google Drive. The thing is that the arrangement with Google allowed WhatsApp backups to now count against the users’ Google Drive storage.

    However, WhatsApp seems to be planning to include a storage limit, but the exact limits the app will impose are not yet clear. Hopefully, the backup storage for WhatsApp won’t count towards the 15GB limit for the free tier (but this is, at this point in time, unconfirmed).

    This information comes after WABetaInfo discovered an upcoming WhatsApp feature that will allow you to manage your WhatsApp backup size on Android. This feature will allow you to customize what items get backed up, and exclude certain types of files from the backup. Files you might be able to exclude are photos, documents, and videos.

    Judging by that, it seems WhatsApp is really in the works of imposing backup limitations for Android users of the app. With the ability to manage your Google Drive backup, WhatsApp will be giving you options to save some storage space (if your chat backups are getting too big).

    All that being said, WhatsApp ditching unlimited Google Drive storage shouldn’t come as a surprise, after the fact that Google abandoned unlimited Google Photos backups last year. It seems the Mountain View tech giant is pushing for paid storage plans, and this seems to be reflected in the WhatsApp backup limitations that are currently in the works as well.

    A few months ago, WABetaInfo showcased the feature (currently under development) that will enable you to have tighter control on what gets backed up to Google Drive from the app itself.

    As you can see in the image below, the app will be offering ways for you to modify what gets backed up to Google Drive and what to exclude (probably in order to save space from your Google Drive storage).

    The feature seen above could be included in a future update of WhatsApp, and it definitely should if WhatsApp will be limiting the backup storage. Both of these two features don’t have an official release date yet, but we’ll make sure to inform you if they go official.

    For now, as we mentioned above, WhatsApp backups still don’t count against your Google Drive storage quota because of an agreement between WhatsApp and Google.WhatsApp has been getting loads of updates and planning lots of new features for its interface and users. Recently, we reported on the fact iPad users might finally be getting a WhatsApp app designed specifically for the iPad. Another useful feature that might be coming soon will be the ability to easily transfer chats from Android to iOS.

  • WhatsApp CEO hints at iPad app release

    WhatsApp CEO hints at iPad app release

    WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart lent some hopeful words to fans of the messaging platform during an interview this week, when he announced that the company is looking into creating a native iPad WhatsApp app.

    WhatsApp users have long been nagging the Facebook-owned company to make a viable app for Apple’s iPad, but WhatsApp has been holding off—just like Instagram still lacks a native iPad app as well.

    The reason for this is that until now, the way that data was encrypted on the WhatsApp platform didn’t allow for the company to safely sync it across multiple devices while maintaining the same level of encryption. However, according to Will Cathcart, the underlying technology has been evolving, and WhatsApp has been hard at work to make this possible in the future.

    “We did a lot of work on the technology for supporting multiple devices,” Cathcart said in the interview.

    “Our web and our desktop apps now have that. If I have a multi-device on, I can turn my phone off or lose my network connection and still get messages on my desktop. That would be really important for a tablet app, to be able to use the app even if your phone isn’t on. So the underlying technology is there.”

    WhatsApp’s beta version of multi-device support, created last year, allowed users to link up to four devices at a time to their account. However, the downside was that you needed your phone to be connected to the internet the whole time for it to work—and even the beta version didn’t include any iPad support.

    With the new technology allowing for data to remain encrypted while syncing, and Cathcart’s positive outlook, it seems that a native WhatsApp app may just be looming on the horizon after all.

  • WhatsApp’s latest update brings Focus mode support to iPhones and iPads

    WhatsApp’s latest update brings Focus mode support to iPhones and iPads

    Although WhatsApp typically rolls out updates simultaneously on both Android and iOS platforms, the latest update is one of the exceptions since it brings specific features aimed at iPhone and iPad users. Two important new features are now making their way to iOS users and are expected to be generally available over the coming weeks.

    The first one is the ability to pause and resume while recording voice messages. Surprisingly, such a nifty feature wasn’t available until the latest update, so if you’re downloading WhatsApp v22.2.75, you can try it out by swiping up to lock a recording and then tap the “pause” and “resume” buttons.

    Another important new feature rolling out to iOS users is support for Focus mode. This has been added in iOS 15 and allows selected users to message you when you have set a Focus mode. When this mode is enabled, you can set notification, call, and message filters, as well as auto-reply to others when you’re not available. Think of it as a more efficient Do Not Disturb feature.

    In other news, WhatsApp is gearing up for yet another important new feature for its users: the ability to transfer Android chats to iOS. However, the feature is still being tested internally, so it might take a while until WhatsApp will be ready to make it available to everyone.

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp voice messages may soon be playable anywhere in the app

    WhatsApp voice messages may soon be playable anywhere in the app

    A report by WABetainfo reveals how WhatsApp’s global voice message player might look like. The player will be able to play voice messages that you have already begun listening to anywhere within the app. The picture shows that the voice message player might be situated at the top of the WhatsApp app and might include a progress bar that shows how much you have left from the audio message. The picture also shows a button to pause and play the message and another button to dismiss it.

    According to the report, WhatsApp’s global voice message player will eliminate the need to stay inside the chatbox in order to listen to a voice message. The player will be constantly visible and will appear on every page of the WhatsApp app, hence the word “global.”

    Because of its global function, WhatsApp’s voice message player is supposed to become very useful for listening to long voice messages. By using the player, you will be able to listen to a long audio message while, at the same time, chatting with other contacts.

    WhatsApp’s global player for voice messages is still in its development stage. At the moment, there is no official information on when this new feature will be released to WhatsApp’s users.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Security Hot Spot: Bankers’ Phones

    Security Hot Spot: Bankers’ Phones

    Uncertainty over the use of private mobiles for work is rife as banks request access to employees’ phones and authorities clamp down on documentation lapses.

    It’s time to look at where the dangers lie in using our personal phones for work after recent events, including J.P.Morgan’s $200 million dollar fine for not documenting conversations conducted on private mobiles, Credit Suisse asking to access employees’ devices, and the Swiss army ‘s military-wide switch from Whatsapp to Swiss-made messenger service Threema.

    Yet, pinpointing the danger to a single area is impossible. The combination of hardware, operating system, and apps installed on our phones, determines how safe our personal devices are, Urs Kuederli, PwC Switzerland’s cybersecurity and privacy lead said. For someone who works in a bank the sheer act of installing Whatsapp for example on an unprotected phone can pose more than just a data breach, he says.

    Given that the messaging service goes through a user’s entire phonebook and uploads all contacts – potentially including client contact information – to a server located abroad, installing the chat app can represent a violation of the banking act and banking secrecy laws.

    The storage of data on U.S. servers, which U.S. authorities can access, was also the reason behind the Swiss Army’s recent decision to shift internal communication from Whatsapp to Swiss-based messenger service Threema, as Tagesanzeiger reported last week.

    Companies should ensure that employees can split functionalities and data used privately from those used for business purposes, by using device management systems, such as Microsoft Intune, MobileIron, or Blackberrywork, Kuederli says. These have so-called container solutions.

    While these do not provide a one hundred percent guarantee, they offer a good balance between security and usability, Kuederli adds.

    There is also the option of carrying around two devices, one strictly for work and one for private use. While this might not very convenient, it is more data-secure.

    It could also be a better solution for those Credit Suisse employees who find that giving their employer access to their mobile phones is an intrusion into their privacy, as we reported last month.

    However, most of the Credit Suisse staff don’t use an additional work phone but receive a monthly reimbursed sum to cover work calls on their personal mobile phones, the outlet wrote.

    Although the Swiss Financial Authority (Finma) prescribes that all communication related to securities trading or information with supervisory relevance must be recorded for two years, it leaves it up to the banks themselves to determine their own communication policies.

    The financial watchdog supervises that internal requirements are adhered to and if it finds that an individual has breached an employer’s policies, it can take action against the bank as well as against the individual.

    Extra caution is now required as Swiss companies revert back to remote working.

    Financial institutions have adapted their processes to the new way of working as well as improving their data security efforts since the first COVID-19 lockdown, yet «there are still lapses and the

  • Phishing attacks are deceiving Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp users

    Phishing attacks are deceiving Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp users

    In an attempt to stop ongoing phishing attacks, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, filed a federal lawsuit in California court. Meta says that the attackers were trying to steal the login credentials of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp users.

    The attackers created fake login pages that looked like Meta’s social media platforms to obtain Meta’s users’ login credentials. The goal was to deceive the users into entering their credentials, like usernames and passwords.

    Here’s what Jessica Romero, Meta’s director of platform and litigation, said about the phishing scheme: “Reports of phishing attacks have been on the rise across the industry, and we are taking this action to uncover the identities of the people behind the attack and stop their harmful conduct.”

    According to Meta’s lawsuit blog post, the phishing scam included more than 39,000 fake websites. In order to mask their attack, the deceivers used a relay service that redirected the internet traffic to their phishing pages while simultaneously concealing their real location and identities. The relay service also masked the online hosting providers of the defendants.

    In a statement about the case, Meta noted that phishing assaults have increased since March and that Meta has suspended thousands of URLs to such phishing sites. Although Meta doesn’t know who made the phishing sites, the lawsuit, according to Meta, is another step in its actions to protect people’s safety and privacy. The filed lawsuit by Meta shows the position of the company against those trying to abuse its platforms.

    In its blog post about the lawsuit, Meta stated that it would continue to fight the phishing attacks that try to deceive its customers and that it shares the phishing sites with other platforms so that they can block the attackers as well.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp is crashing on iOS

    WhatsApp is crashing on iOS

    Several tweets on Twitter today were about issues that some iPhone users were having with the WhatsApp app. Those suffering from this bug just could not open the messaging app on their iOS-powered handset as it would crash immediately after the icon was tapped on their iPhone home screen. With no recent WhatsApp updates to speak of, and with the beta version of the app crashing on Test Flight, the problem could be Facebook’s fault (the company is the parent of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger).

    While some users made a connection between the bug and yesterday’s release of iOS 15.2, WhatsApp has been having problems with previous iOS versions putting the kibosh to that theory. Regardless of what is causing it to crash on iOS, WhatsApp hasn’t even made a public statement of any kind regarding the app’s inability to stay open for iPhone users. The bug is affecting both the regular version of WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business.

    With end-to-end encryption maintaining your privacy, WhatsApp sends texts through your phone’s internet connection similar to how Apple’s iMessages and Google’s Rich Communication Service (RCS) works. The ability to send larger video files and messages, support for large group chats, Read Receipts, and more features have made WhatsApp the most popular messaging app in over 100 countries. The app has been installed over 5 billion times.

    While Facebook doesn’t break out financials by individual apps, “experts” believe that WhatsApp helped generate between $5 billion and $10 billion in revenue for Facebook last year. It is estimated that the app has 2.3 billion daily active users (DAU), second behind parent Facebook’s 2.9 billion daily active users. As of this past July, the number of Monthly Active Users on WhatsApp was calculated at 2 billion.

    If you’ve been experiencing these same problems with WhatsApp on your iPhone, let us know by dropping your comment in the comment box below.

  • WhatsApp adds more options for disappearing messages on iOS and Android

    WhatsApp adds more options for disappearing messages on iOS and Android

    WhatsApp introduced disappearing messages last year. The feature was further improved not long ago with the option to make photos and video disappear immediately after being viewed once. Today, WhatsApp announced a new set of control options for those using disappearing messages.

    Starting this week, iOS and Android users will be able to control their messages and how long they will remain visible thanks to two new features: default disappearing messages and multiple durations.

    The latest version of WhatsApp adds the option to turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats. This means that all individual chats will be set to disappear at your chosen duration. Furthermore, WhatsApp added a new option when creating a group chat that lets users enable default disappearing messages for groups. Obviously, this is an optional feature that’s not enabled by default.

    Also, the update includes two new durations for disappearing messages – 24 hours and 90 days, in addition to the existing option of 7 days. You can set durations for disappearing messages from the Privacy settings and choose “Default Message Timer.”

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp to add built-in sticker maker on the web

    WhatsApp to add built-in sticker maker on the web

    WhatsApp is always improving in order to remain competitive. Although new features aren’t always coming to all platforms, sooner or later all WhatsApp users get to benefit from them. The most recent improvement added to the messaging app, a built-in Sticker Maker, is only available on WhatsApp’s web version.

    It will allow WhatsApp users to quickly create stickers directly within the app, thus removing the need to use third-party apps. The new Sticker Maker can be accessed via the paperclip icon. Simply select Sticker and choose an image to upload.

    The images uploaded can then be edited to your heart’s desire. The picture can be cut and cropped, but you can also add emoji, text, as well as more WhatsApp stickers on top of the ones you create.

    Of course, Android and iOS users must continue to use third-party apps to make their own stickers. Keep in mind that the built-in Sticker Maker announced today won’t be available on the web until next week.

  • WhatsApp multi-device support will roll out to all in mandatory update

    WhatsApp multi-device support will roll out to all in mandatory update

    The multi-device supportability was introduced this summer in a beta version to select users, and much more recently, became available for testing on a stable version of WhatsApp. Thousands of users took advantage of this and joined the multi-device beta program to be able to use WhatsApp from their laptops or tablets.

    It was a feature you could opt into at your discretion through the phone app itself. If you wanted to be able to log in through a different device, you’d have to specifically enable the feature on your phone, as it’s still technically in beta—that is, until now.

    A report by WaBetaInfo reveals that multi-device support will very soon be more or less forced upon users in an upcoming WhatsApp update. The team at WaBetaInfo discovered that the option to opt-out of the multi-device support program has been removed for users, meaning it is now a permanent feature of their account.

    They can now no longer leave the program, which is certain proof that multi-support is soon to be rolled out to everyone on the platform. And, as it turns out, it will be mandatory rather than optional after the upcoming WhatsApp beta version 2.21.23.10 goes live.

    How will this affect users, you may ask? Well, if you are already using the multi-device support feature, as soon as the update arrives to bring it to everyone, you will be logged out of all your additional devices, and you will have to re-link them to your account if you want to use your WhatsApp on more than just your phone.

    For the record, WhatsApp just recently removed the requirement for users’ phones to be online if they want to use WhatsApp from a secondary device. And for what it’s worth, we know that WhatsApp is already working on bringing the ability to link WhatsApp to more than one phone (and iPads, for that matter). When that update is coming, however, is still far too early to say.

  • WhatsApp will introduce Communities, evidence suggests

    WhatsApp will introduce Communities, evidence suggests

    WhatsApp has been adding new features by the numbers in the past few months, and now the guys at WABetaInfo have dug up yet another upcoming change to the popular messaging app.

    The new feature is called Communities and it was first spotted by XDA Developers as a simple reference in the code of the latest beta version of WhatsApp. Now there are some more details about the upcoming feature, along with screenshots, courtesy of WABetaInfo.

    Judging from the aforementioned screenshots, a Community is a place similar to a group but with a tad more options for the admins. At the moment a Community chat looks much like a group chat, and it’s still a private, encrypted place – not a social network-like feed.

    There are some visual differences too – community icons seem to be more square to distinguish the new feature from group chats. The layout leaked when WhatsApp briefly enabled it by mistake only to remove it soon after.

    The Community feature will offer the ability to host different groups under its hat, and admins will have extended tools to manage those groups. The new feature is still under development for Android and iOS, and there’s no clear rollout schedule yet. More details will become available when Communities hit the Beta version of WhatsApp.