From editing WhatsApp messages to locking private chats: What you need to know
Explainers
By
Sharon Wanga
| May 25, 2023
The popular messaging app WhatsApp has undergone various changes in 2023 to keep up with user trends by adding value in terms of offering the best texting experience.
On May 22, the messaging company announced the latest changes in which users will be able to edit the messages they sent within fifteen minutes.
"From correcting a simple misspelling to adding extra context to a message, we're excited to bring you more control over your chats. All you need to do is long-press on a sent message and choose 'Edit' from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after," WhatsApp said in a blog post.
The modified message will show the word 'edited' alongside to notify the recipient of the changes made by the sender without sharing the history of the edited message.
The changes made to the message will be safeguarded by end-to-end encryption like private calls, media, and texts.
Locking conversations
In another change, the Meta-owned company introduced chat lock features to hide messages in a password-protected folder.
"Locking a chat takes that thread out of the inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too," Meta said last week.
Once a chat is locked, the feature conceals its content from appearing in the notification and can only be opened by pulling down the inbox to enter a password or biometric.
WhatsApp Polls
On May 4, WhatsApp introduced yet another feature- polls- and sharing with captions to make the chats more productive and fun.
In the polls feature, WhatsApp introduced three new updates to help groups gather information and make decisions together. The updates are to create single-vote polls, search for polls in chat and stay updated on poll results.
The polls creator allows one to vote once and disable multiple answers as the second update makes it easier for a user to locate a poll in a chat while the user gets notifications on poll responses.
In another added feature, the user is allowed to modify captions while forwarding media files.
WhatsApp further improved the ability of users to message seamlessly across all devices by introducing the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones on April 25.
"Each linked phone connects to WhatsApp independently, ensuring that your personal messages, media, and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and if your primary device is inactive for a long period, we automatically log you out of all companion devices," the WhatsApp blog noted.
The ability to transfer between phones without signing out will allow a seamless experience by letting users pick up conversations where they left off.
Keep-in-chat feature
WhatsApp also introduced another feature on April 21; the keep-in-chat feature for disappearing messages that allow users to keep certain messages even after the disappearing messages feature has been turned on.
The keep-in-chat gives the message sender the right to decide what part of the chat can be saved for later use.
On April 13, WhatsApp announced three new security features aimed at protecting conversations between users.
The three features were: Account Protect, Device Verification, and Automatic Security Codes.
The messaging app also rolled out changes to make groups more manageable for admins and easier to navigate on March 21.
In the changes, group admins will have more control over the privacy setting of the communities by deciding who joins the group. It also becomes easier to identify the people you share common groups with.
In February this year, the messaging app introduced a series of updates to the status feature, which included; a private audience selector, voice status, status reactions, status profile ring for new updates, and link preview on status.
The private audience selector allows the user to update privacy per status by choosing the contacts who view your status.
Users will also be able to record and share voice messages for up to 30 seconds on their statuses.
Users can also send quick reactions to status updates by selecting one of eight default emojis by swiping up on the status screen. A ring will appear around the profile picture when one updates the status to notify a WhatsApp user of a new incoming status.
Visual previews of links posted in the status updates will be visible to help contacts understand what the link is about before they click on it.
Some of the information in this story came from WhatsApp.com