WhatsApp has rolled out a new update to the App Store, bringing the iOS app version number up to 2.18.40. The update adds a number of new features, in addition to the usual bug fixes, improvements and other features that are currently under development and improvements. Firstly, this new update to the iOS users brings a massive feature- WhatsApp Status in Widget, which means users can now see the statuses of their contacts list in the WhatsApp widget in Today's View. Alongside this, there are a couple of new features added in the latest version, which are discussed below.
WhatsApp Status in Widget
As reported in the official App Store changelog, users can now see the most recently received status updates in the WhatsApp Widget. Users can access the WhatsApp widget in iPhone’s Today View.
Voice Messages
The WhatsApp update also now allows voice messages to be played while switching between apps or turning your device screen off. Though this was already possible in previous releases, but the feature apparently was not working for some users.
With this version, WhatsApp plays the voice message as real audio, allowing iOS to show it in the control center and in the lock screen.
Crash Logs
The popular messaging app has also added a Crash log feature which helps users get in touch with WhatsApp developers when the app crashes or cannot be opened. This features will send the crash log to developers allowing them to solve the problem in your installed version of the app.
Upcoming features:
Other features included in the Advance changelog are those which haven’t been enabled yet, but WhatsApp is working on these features to be activated in next releases.
WhatsApp has added improvements for group video calls. This feature, however, is currently not available and it will be available in next releases. The company also is testing a new feature to add translations for the Sticker feature.
Besides, the features reported in the changelog, WhatsApp is also working on adding new features to enhance user experience. The new feature list includes a dark mode, Touch ID support for iPhone and polls in groups. The Touch ID support is particularly great for securing your messages in the instant messaging app. Moreover, the app will also expand the previous 256 group participants limit to 4096. Of course, these features have been reported by WABetaInfo as of now, so there’s is no information when they might actually become official.
