WhatsApp takes new steps towards emoji responses to messages

Anyone who uses Slack or Trello has been waiting for months: emoji comments can be placed on WhatsApp messages. Take ‘in’ in this very literally, because you no longer respond with a separate message under another message, you put your emoji specifically on a message. WhatsApp is working on it and it looks like it is now one step closer to this feature.

WhatsApp emoji reactions

WhatsApp’s most recent beta version on iOS shows that we are close to rolling out the feature. WEBetaInfo writes that in version 22.2.72 of WhatsApp on iOS it is noticeable that a new option has been added to the menu. More precisely ‘Reactions notifications’. You can switch them on and off and that’s a good thing: so not only will you be able to respond to a specific message with emojis, you can also choose not to be notified of those reactions.

That is an advantage, because often those reactions are not very informative: more for entertainment. It is not necessarily necessary to know that someone has posted a comment, you can also read that later. In any case, being able to respond with emoji to a message specifically saves a lot of emoji pollution in your conversation. Not that the icons add nothing, but you can’t get a lot of information out of them: they are more there to spice up a conversation.

Beta version

The slider to turn on comment notifications is therefore a fact, but at the same time it is only a beta. So we’re not entirely sure that WhatsApp will roll out the option very soon, but since it’s been talked about for a long time, the chance is very present. At the same time, we also see LinkedIn, for example, only now rolling out a beta for its Clubhouse-like audio conversation option that was already known for the platform in March last year, so it may just be that we also have to wait a little longer for WhatsApp emoji responses.

At the same time, emoji comments would also be another step for Meta to merge Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs and WhatsApp messages even more, something it has been planning for years. Now WhatsApp is still the most ‘strange’ of the three, but it will soon start to look more and more like those emoji reactions. Meta hasn’t announced a possible deadline or date for the merge to happen yet, and maybe it’s waiving due to all the monopoly fines and lawsuits. In short, there are multiple ways to look at this potential innovation on WhatsApp.

Are you also waiting for this new feature for WhatsApp, or do you prefer Meta to keep everything a bit more separate? Leave your opinion below this article.