WhatsApp is testing new features: this is what you can expect

WhatsApp is currently testing new features in its beta app. We have made a handy overview for you with the new possibilities that are coming.

1. New emoji

Almost everyone loves new emoji, and luckily we get a new series to use in our chats almost every year. With Unicode 14, which was introduced in Android 12L and iOS 15.4, we get a total of 37 brand new emoji, including a melting face, and a biting lip. It is only logical that the largest chat app in the world adopts this emoji, and so does WhatsApp. The subsidiary of Meta gives users of version 2.22.8.8 of WhatsApp Beta the chance to use the emoji first.

Many of the existing emoji are getting their own skintone and gender options in the Unicode 14 update, and there are also new variants of existing emoji, such as the pregnant dude (?).

2. New Voice Message Player

The new voice message player has been tested in beta version WhatsApp for a while now. Thanks to this player, you can listen to audio messages from your colleague while you are texting with your group of friends. In the latest version of WhatsApp Beta, more people can test the new player. You can read all about this function in this article.

3. New privacy feature in settings

This privacy function in the settings is now also available for more beta testers of WhatsApp. It’s about the ability to hide Last Seen from the certain contacts. This feature has also been in testing for quite some time, we first saw a screenshot of the option in September of last year. You can now only choose to hide Last Seen from ‘Everyone’, ‘My Contacts’ or ‘Nobody’. You can read more about this in this article.

availabilty

These functions are only visible to a limited group of WhatsApp Beta users. They won’t be coming to the stable version until a later date, but when that will be, we don’t know. What do you think of these new features for WhatsApp? Are you going to use them? Let us know in the comments below this article.

More WhatsApp Tips

You can find our complete WhatsApp tips overview with all tips, tricks, explanations, and howtos about WhatsApp here on Androidworld. We regularly update this page with new tips so it is useful to add the page to your favorites. This way you always have the latest tips at your fingertips. Below you will find three of the most read WhatsApp tips on Androidworld.