WhatsApp, the instant messaging platform not long ago introduced new emoji reactions that let users respond to messages with emoticons like a thumbs-up or a heart.
You may hold on to text bubbles to display WhatsApp’s six new emoji reactions, which are identical to the reaction features in Messenger and iMessage to communicate more and promote messages with a single tap.
Two months after it initially started rolling out, the WhatsApp Reactions function is now receiving an update. Previously, users could only respond to messages with one of just six emojis: like, love, laugh, surprise, sad, or thanks.
Now, however, users can respond to messages with any emoji of their choice. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of WhatsApp’s parent firm Meta, revealed the start of the rollout in an Instagram post on Monday.
Remember that WhatsApp tested the Reactions feature for at least 4 years before launching it in early May. To keep up with competitors like Telegram, iMessage, Slack, and even Instagram, the instant messaging service had to catch up.
Mark Zuckerberg listed some of his favorite Reactions emojis in his post introducing the upgrade, such as the robot face, french fries, guy surfing, sunglass smiley, the 100% symbol, and the fist bump.
In addition to being mentioned lately, the option to use any emoji as a WhatsApp Reaction has been rumored even before the feature’s actual implementation, in April of this year. When you long-press a message and pick “+” from the emoji pop-up, you may choose any emoji to use as a reaction.
According to claims from beta testers, WhatsApp has recently been testing a variety of features. These include the capacity to protect your online status from specific contacts, an Android chat sync function that enables users to log in from another device, and more.
With the introduction of granular privacy restrictions in June, WhatsApp users now have the option to control who in their contacts can access their About status, Last Seen, and Profile Photo.
In June, Zuckerberg also said that it would soon be possible to move WhatsApp data from an Android phone to an iPhone. As to the most recent reports, it is currently undergoing testing.
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild.africa weekly digest for updates