WhatsApp introduced a list of features in 2021, and there are more to follow. WhatsApp has been seen working on a handful of new features in recent weeks. Some of these features are presently in development, while others are reportedly being tested in beta form (which means their rollout is not so far away).
Most recently, WhatsApp was spotted testing Instagram Reels integration on the platform. We have compiled a list of the features that are in the pipeline and are likely to roll out in 2022. These features are expected to enhance the messaging experience and introduce some new use cases for the app. Let’s take a look at a list of some of the new and exciting features that WhatsApp is likely to launch in 2022.
1. Hide your ‘last seen’ from specific contacts
WhatsApp always had a setting that lets you hide your last seen from your contacts. It is a handy feature for people who want to hide their availability from their WhatsApp contacts. One downside of using this feature is that you are also not able to see the ‘last seen’ status of your contacts. This causes issues for users like me who only want to hide their last seen status from specific people in my contacts but not all of them. Thankfully, the company is testing a new feature that lets people hide their ‘last seen’ status from only specific contacts.
Once the feature goes live, you will be able to hide your ‘last seen’ status from only specific contacts and be able to see the ‘last seen’ status of all the other people in your contacts. The feature is already available in the beta version of the app and it should roll out in the coming weeks or months to all the users.
2. New time limit for deleting sent messages
While WhatsApp allows users to delete sent messages, currently, there’s a time limit of up to 4,096 seconds (68 minutes and 16 seconds) to delete a message after it was sent. But according to testing on beta version of the app, the company might be planning to increase the time limit to 2 days and 12 hours!.
It means that users will be able to delete their sent messages within the new specified time limit. Why has WhatsApp abandoned the project to extend the new time limit to 1 week? Just think that it’s very unlikely that you want to delete a very old message, and it would not be so fair, maybe. Note that, since this new limit is under development, so the feature is not available yet, the dev team may change the limit again and again.
3. A new community feature
WhatsApp is working on a new community feature will be available in future updates. The feature is reportedly similar to discord groups and channels. This is not the same as the groups feature that already exists in WhatsApp. The new communities feature will give admins more control over the different aspects of the app.
As you can see in this screenshot, thanks to WhatsApp Communities, you can bring your groups together, so it’s easy to manage and access them, and you can reach everyone at once by sending messages to all members and keeping them updated. Like other chats, the community chats will continue to be end-to-end encrypted. This feature is not available because it’s under development, and there isn’t a known release date, unfortunately.
4. WhatsApp logout
WhatsApp logout will replace the ‘Delete My Account’ button and support the upcoming multi-device feature. As per a report of WaBetaInfo, which keeps a track of WhatsApp updates, the app will finally bring in a logout option for its users. The option will allow users to log out of WhatsApp accounts from their devices, just like Facebook and other social networking apps. The feature was recently spotted on the new beta version of WhatsApp and is said to roll out to both iOS and Android versions of the app soon. The WhatsApp logout feature is likely to allow people on the app to use their accounts on multiple devices at the same time.
5. Instagram Reels on WhatsApp
WhatsApp to get the Instagram Reels section going forward. The feature will reportedly allow users to watch Instagram Reels directly from the messaging app. This could be a part of WhatsApp’s integration plan with other Facebook-owned apps.
@WhatsApp is working on the possibility to play #Instagram Reels within WhatsApp, for a future update.
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 11, 2021
For those unaware, Instagram Reels is the short video feature, which was added to the picture-sharing app last year after the government banned TikTok.
6. Read later
‘Read later’ is said to be an improved version of the existing Archived Chats feature on WhatsApp. When a chat is moved to read later, WhatsApp won’t send notifications for that chat. Additionally, the feature will include a ‘vacation mode’, which will ensure that the ‘read later’ chats work the same way as archived chats on the current stable version. Read later will also come with an edit button for users to customize settings. WhatsApp users will also be able to select multiple chats at once to quickly unarchive them.
Credits;
https://www.91mobiles.com
https://wabetainfo.com
