what you should Know
- WhatsApp has started releasing emoji reactions for everyone.
- The larger file sharing message size limit is now available to all users.
- Users are also beginning to gain the ability to add up to 512 people to a group.
After several weeks of beta testing, reactions to WhatsApp messages began to appear for a wider range of users on the stable channel, although the choice of emojis is currently limited to six.
New emoji reactions are spreading on Android and iOS devices, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed in a Facebook post. However, as this is a phased implementation, the new feature may not be available to everyone at once.
Assuming emoji reactions are live for you, you should now be able to see six different emojis when you press and hold a message, as you can with many of the best messaging apps. These emojis are common reactions, including thumbs up, a red heart, a laughing face, a surprised face, a crying face, and a hand gesture of prayer.
This means that you will no longer have to enter your full response to a message that tends to jam a chat with text that can be replaced with simple emojis.
While WhatsApp’s choice of emojis is currently limited compared to the larger catalog of emojis available in Telegram or Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp has promised to add “an even wider range of expressions in the future.” Support for more skin tones is also in the pipeline.
In addition to messaging responses, the Meta-owned service now allows anyone to send files up to 2GB at a time, a significant increase from the previous 100MB limit.
WhatsApp said in a blog post that the latest change “will be useful for cooperation between small businesses and school groups”. But it is also useful for people who often share large video files through the app.
Another useful and much sought after feature that is now available to all WhatsApp users is the ability to add up to 512 people to group chat. The increase is twice the previous limit.
All of these features were first announced last month, along with the new Communities section, signaling WhatsApp’s efforts to target its competitors such as Telegram and Slack.
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