Summary
- WhatsApp introduced a slew of new features to improve group chats, events, and channels.
- Users can now see how many people are online in group chats and customize their notification settings.
- The update also includes easy ways to +1 reactions, create events in individual conversations and better video calls.
WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging apps outside the United States, just announced a comprehensive new update packed with features and improvements. The company is rolling out a dozen new features to improve conversations, group chats, channels, and more.
While WhatsApp gets updates quite often, especially on iPhone or Android, the changelogs never really mention anything new. However, that’s about to change as the company just delivered its first “feature roundup” update. In a new blog post, WhatsApp detailed updates to group chats, events, channels, a new online indicator, notification controls, and more. Clearly, the company is looking to elevate its chat app to better compete with other alternatives, like Discord.
According to WhatsApp, this week’s announcement includes features that were recently released or coming soon. For example, earlier this year it revealed new chat themes, and now it’s building on that release with a bevy of new tools, features, or options to improve the overall experience.
For starters, one of the most user-requested features is finally available: an online indicator that displays how many participants are actively using the app. This will be a welcome change for all your WhatsApp groups, as long as you can manually set your online status.
Speaking of groups, WhatsApp added the ability to highlight notifications, which should keep those group notifications clean by giving users more control. You can use the new ‘Notify for’ setting and select ‘Highlights’ to limit notifications for @mentions, replies, and messages from saved contacts or ‘All’ to receive all notifications.
Most of the updates announced revolve around conversations and communication. For example, another new feature is an easy way to +1 a reaction by tapping it, similar to other chat apps. You’ll also find new event controls, so in addition to creating events in groups, you can create and set events for individual conversations.
WhatsApp also added document scanning on iPhone, the option to set WhatsApp (on the latest version of iOS) as the default iPhone chat app, pinch-to-zoom on video calls, and an option to add another person to an ongoing call.
Additionally, the company mentioned quality-of-life updates to performance, smoother video calls, and video notes for channels where
channel admins can easily record and share short videos (60 seconds or less) with followers. Channels also get voice message transcripts, and a QR code to easily invite users to the channel.
WhatsApp explained its new video calling experience by saying, “We’ve upgraded our technology to make your video calls more reliable and higher quality. Our optimized routing system finds the best connection path, reducing dropped calls and video freezing. And our improved bandwidth detection quickly upgrades your video to HD quality for a more enjoyable experience.”
WhatsApp is slowly but surely starting to operate more like Slack, Discord, and other communication tools on the market. Make sure you’re on the latest version for iPhone or Android to take advantage of all these new features. Then, here’s how to easily access your favorite contacts, use ChatGPT inside WhatsApp, or edit messages after they’re sent.
As a reminder, WhatsApp will stop working on older iPhone models (like the iPhone 6) next month. The company announced that it’s ending support for old versions of iOS on May 5th, 2025. Make sure you update your phone, and if it’s too old to get updates, it’s probably time for something new.
