WhatsApp’s set of features is ever-growing, though one would say the platform is largely playing catch up to rival services like Telegram in terms of feature additions. The official rollout ofWhatsApp Communitiescommenced last November, and the Meta-owned service has left no stone unturned in refining its functionality since then. Thanks to WhatsApp’s flourishing beta program for Android, we’ve picked up several clues about future updates to communities, including aDiscord-style general chat roomplus amessage editing featurefor community admins, among others. The folks at WhatsApp are making another change to communities in the form of a visual overhaul for its avatar/icon.
With this new beta update, the community icon features a stack of cards behind it, supposedly to indicate that this community has some group chats in it. While WABetaInfoclaimsthis update is part of WhatsApp beta for Androidv2.23.20.3, the site notes that some beta testers with versions2.23.19.16and2.23.19.18may also see this in action.
As WABetaInfo puts it, this visual tweak aligns with WhatsApp’s plans to bring together the community announcement group and community groups under one roof, providing an easier means for people to navigate through their various chats from one window.
This minor change in the display image also makes community chats stand out more prominently among one-on-one and standard group chats within the Chats tab. While WhatsApp Communities is still evolving, the feature has already seen several upgrades in the short span that it’s been available, and we expect to come across more user-focused additions in the near future.
Although a large segment of WhatsApp users already know about communities and what it does, Channels is a different beast. Initially limited to just two countries, this feature is nowon course for a wider rollout across the globe. Channels are basically WhatsApp’s way of letting brands, celebrities, organizations, etc, post updates for their fans/followers. Viewers can react to the content they view on Channelsvia emoji, and there’s also a dedicated filter to find Channels based on your interests or geography. We learned yesterday that aglobal rollout of Channelswould occur this week, ensuring that all WhatsApp users get to take it for a spin.
Is this a feature that a lot of WhatsApp users will access on a regular basis? Only time will tell. But it’s pretty obvious at this point that Meta wants WhatsApp to be more than just a service where you keep in touch with your family/friends and one where you would potentially get a bulk of your social content, too. But this doesn’t mean WhatsApp hasn’t focused on other attributes over the past few beta updates. For instance, the chat app recently made a nifty upgrade to group calling byletting all 32 individuals get in on the call right away, while also automating theencryption verification process.
