You may or may not have realised but there is a brand new feature on your WhatsApp Messenger. There is now a new status tab, similar to SnapChat and Instagram Stories. It allows you to update your status with a picture, GIF or short video to your contacts. This can also be customised with emojis and annotations and with a limitation of being up for only 24 hours, again all similar to Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
The addition of this new feature has meant the old status feature of a simple line of text has been abolished. However, there are apparently talks to bring this missing feature back in the next update but it has been revised. It will appear in beta version 2.17.95 or newer and be similar to an About-Me style blurb. This will run alongside the new status tab and is available to those that sign up to be beta version testers.
This reversion to the old status feature comes after a major outcry from WhatsApp users. However, it seems that the Facebook-owned messenger service is about to cause more outcry with the news that they are set to monetise the service. With the addition of business chat, which allows businesses to send messages via the service. This will be at no further cost to the user, but only to the business and it has been said that they are looking ways to ensure that this doesn’t lead to users being inundated with spam.
So now you are aware of what is going on on WhatsApp, were you aware of these secret features on the platform?
- You can use WhatsApp on your computer
All you have to do is click this link to download WhatsApp and follow the instructions and voila, a piece of your phone on your PC. Crazy! - Respond directly to an old message
Do you ever miss messages on a group chat and then no one knows what you are talking about when you do respond? Well, did you know you can directly respond to that old message by embedding it in your response. All you have to do is tap and hold the message you want to reply to, hit reply and then type your reply. No more getting lost in translation! - Change the text
You may like to emphasise what you are saying to someone by using different fonts. You may not be abe to change the font on WhatsApp but you can make the text bold, italic or strikethrough. If you want to make the text bold, just put a ‘*’ on either side of the words, for italic use a ‘_’ and for strikethrough use ‘~’. So if we wanted to make the word Strategy Plus bold on WhatsApp, we would put *Strategy Plus*. It’s really that simple!
Will you be trying out any of the secret features we mentioned? We hope you will! Tweet us if you do! Also, if you end up being a beta version tester, we want to hear what you think of the new features. Now we are off to apply to be beta version testers!
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