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Journalism of Courage
WhatsApp once a simple instant messaging app has now turned into an online platform that does more than just text or call. This year, Meta has added so many new features, which makes WhatsApp a feature-rich cross-platform messaging app, available for free on Android and iOS devices.
Unlike most free instant messaging apps, WhatsApp does not showcase any ads. Not just that, the messages are also end-to-end encrypted and Meta does not monetise WhatsApp in any way, making WhatsApp the only meta-owned platform that does not generate any revenue.
Here are some of the most prominent features that Meta added to WhatsApp. While some of these features are derived from other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Meta has also added a few new capabilities that are not found on any other instant messaging platform.
Meta has implemented a lot of security measures to make WhatsApp a safe and secure messaging platform. One such feature is the ability to hide online status, this enables users to stay online on WhatsApp and control who can see their current status.
Got added to a new group and want to exit silently? WhatsApp has got you covered. In one of the updates that WhatsApp pushed in 2022, it changed a setting, where, only the admin of the group will be notified when someone leaves a group.
Another mention-worthy feature that WhatsApp introduced in 2022 is the ability to restore or undo an accidentally limited message. This is also a great feature for those who might have butter finger and are known for accidentally deleting the wrong things on WhatsApp.
Want to share something with multiple groups and don’t want to send or forward a message to each group? WhatsApp has a solution for you. Users can now create communities with multiple groups and can even create a new group within the community. This is a great feature for those who tend to share a lot of texts, pictures, or even videos with multiple groups.
Similarly, users can now create polls within the WhatsApp group, which will be useful to get insights on a particular activity or a sporting event. Besides, group admins can now delete any message on the group, especially when there is a troublesome message. Lastly, a single WhatsApp group can now support up to 1,024 members, which is four times that of the previous limit.
WhatsApp not only supports voice and video calls, but it can also even accommodate as many as 32 people on a single call. What is even more fascinating is the fact that you can now schedule calls on WhatsApp just like a professional conference call platform like Zoom or Google Duo.
It also gets the ability to mute specific users during calls and WhatsApp also shows a banner when someone new joins an ongoing call. You can even make voice or video calls to people outside the country for free, and these calls are end-to-end encrypted.
Voice messages are another great way of conversing on WhatsApp. With the latest update, users can playback a voice even when they go out of the chat, and one can also preview the draft of the audio message before sending it. Similarly, WhatsApp can also play a voice message at 1x, 1.5x, and 2x speed.
You can now share up to 2GB of files on WhatsApp. While this feature can be overlooked, it’s an important upgrade for those who tend to share large photos and videos on WhatsApp. Similarly, you can now message yourself on WhatsApp, which allows users to use WhatsApp like a note app.
Along with all these great features, WhatsApp also added some fun capabilities to WhatsApp. When you don’t have a reply to a message on WhatsApp you can just react to it, just like the way you do on a Facebook post or an Instagram direct message. You can also create custom 3D avatars of yourself, which is again a Facebook-inspired feature.
Last but not the least, you can now transfer your WhatsApp chats from an Android phone to iPhone and vice versa. This is a great feature for those who tend to change phones every once in a while.
