WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform across the globe with an excess of over 1.2 billion monthly active users. Ever since Facebook acquired WhatsApp, it has changed the fate of billion user company.
We have all witnessed Whatsapp continue its dominance over the past few years and even said that the company would explore ways to contribute to “India’s vision for digital commerce," because India is the biggest market for WhatsApp across the globe with over 165 million monthly active users.
That said, WhatsApp is popular because it's simple, secure and has recently introduced a bunch of new features to both Android and iOS platforms that just makes it icing on the cake. Here are six latest Whatsapp features you need to know about.
Two-step Authentication
The two-step authentication adds an extra layer of protection to your app. By enabling this feature, the user will be asked for a passcode for verifying the account whenever they reset the app. This feature aims at protecting your phone number and your private conversations from falling into the wrong hands, with a six-digit passcode.
To enable this feature, go to the Whatsapp ‘Settings’ in your app, click on ‘Account’ and select ‘Two-Step Verification’ option. The feature is available on all iPhone devices.
Pinned Chats
The Pinned Chats feature was added recently, and as the name suggests, it lets the user pin their favourite chats. The chats that you have pinned automatically shoot up to the top of your chat list followed by the latest conversations, however, the number of chats you can use this feature on is limited to only 3.
To do this, you simply have to press and hold the chat you wish to pin and select the ‘pin’ icon that appears on the top bar. The same goes for ‘unpinning’ a conversation. Currently, this feature is only available for Android users.
Siri Now Reads Your Whatsapp Messages Out Loud
Obviously, this again is only for the iOS users. Apple’s infamous voice assistant, Siri, can now read your Whatsapp messages for you. This feature comes in the latest 2.17.20 version f the app and works only on iOS 10.3 or higher.
Return of The Whatsapp Status
The good old Whatsapp text status is back after being replaced with a Snapchat-like story status. The company had to bring back the original text status feature after a lot of demand from the users. However, Whatsapp decided to keep the story status as well to add to its appeal.
Changing or setting up a status is easy. Just go to the account profile and type out a status for the day under the ‘About’ segment. Text Status is available for both iOS and Android users.
Albums for iOS
Well, there's one feature exclusive to iOS users. All these days, whenever we send more than one photo at a time, it used to appear as a single message every time. However, the latest update for iOS has added a feature called 'Albums,' which displays multiple images sent into a single album type. That's a much needed handy feature.
Improved Video-Call Button
When Whatsapp initially introduced video-calling, the user had to tap on the call button and then choose between voice and video call options. Now though, a new update separates the two options by coming up with a dedicated button for both voice and video calling for a hassle-free experience.
The video-call button replaces the attachment button at the top bar, which instead appears on the bottom of the text bar now.
