17 WhatsApp New Features Released In 2021 – Check All Features Here.
Permanent Archiving
One of the most valuable additions for those who collect chats on WhatsApp was the permanent archiving of conversations. With it activated, the function creates an exclusive drawer for chats that are not so important to the user, in which they will be saved already muted (including groups) and even new messages cannot take them out of there — the account administrator must unarchive each one. manually.
Self-destructive messages, photos and videos
It took a while, but WhatsApp finally introduced self-destructive messages into the app. With it, users can make submissions that disappear after a certain period — 24 hours or seven days after it is sent. To complement the novelty, there are also photos and videos that disappear by themselves after being viewed only once.
WhatsApp Payments
This one was actually a re-release. First introduced to the world last year, the payment and transfer function via “Zap” was suspended by order of the Central Bank in a matter of days. Months later, in 2021, the tool started working again.
Accelerated Audios
No more listening to slow messages for long minutes. Since May, messenger users have been able to upload tracks at 1.5x or even 2x faster speeds, to check content in up to half the original time.
Connecting to multiple devices
WhatsApp began to expand its range of action beyond the mobile phone and, at the beginning of November, the Meta messenger released the login on multiple devices for everyone. This functionality is still evolving, but, in practice, it already allows you to use the WhatsApp app for the desktop or the web independently of the cell phone.
Improved WhatsApp Business
Over the year, the WhatApp Business app (the business-focused messenger arm) received a number of enhancements. The “Contact Information” screen for business accounts was one of the first to change, in this case to give more focus to the product catalog.
The virtual product showcase received a lot of attention throughout the year. Business account administrators can manage sales from their desktop, hide unavailable items without deleting them, and even better: segment the catalog into different categories.
muted videos
Sometimes a video doesn’t need sound to convey a message, especially if the environment is too noisy. Throughout the year, WhatsApp worked on a button to mute videos before sending them. Today, this function is available to all users.
High quality photos
Following in the footsteps of its main rival, Telegram, WhatsApp implemented quality options for sending photos. The function allows you to choose whether the media can be sent in the highest quality possible, using more internet, or in a more “economical” version, ideal when using the cell phone network.
Encrypted backup
While WhatsApp conversations are protected with end-to-end encryption, backups aren’t. This means that, once with access to the files, a snooper could check out all the content exchanged between you and your contacts. Fortunately, that has changed: in October, the messenger made the encrypted backups available.
Chat transfer between iOS and Android
It might not be difficult to switch from one ecosystem to another when it comes to apps, but these people know that WhatsApp conversations are lost in the process. Although the account and the number are the same, until August of this year it was not possible to take the messenger’s chats to the rival ecosystem — and it was a real headache to get everything back in order. Fortunately, this has recently changed, and WhatsApp users can switch phones more easily thanks to the transfer of conversations between Android and iOS.
WhatsApp Visual News in 2021
Not even the WhatsApp interface was without a new feature in 2021. The year was marked by a series of small changes in the messenger, but which together make a difference in the overall experience of the application. Check out the highlights:
Moving on to emojis and stickers, the additions are quite varied. Again, here are some of the coolest ones:
Upcoming WhatsApp news
The evolution of “Zap” doesn’t stop: there are several new developments under construction for the messenger, some of them unavailable even to official testers — and, look, it’s no small feat. Check out everything that is being prepared for platform users:
New app for Windows and macOS
In November, Italian website Aggiornamenti Lumia was able to try out the new desktop WhatsApp based on the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). The update introduces a new interface, reworked menus and even new functions.
Send image as sticker
Currently, to create a sticker, a WhatsApp user must download an external app — and there are several options through the Play Store and App Store. That task, however, could soon be done by the messenger, according to a recent leak in the desktop version of WhatsApp.
Emoji and stickers as group photos
No ideas or photos to put on the face of a new WhatsApp group? Soon, you’ll be able to put a figurine or emoji in its place. The feature appears to have been in development for months, but is not yet scheduled for release to the general public.
New Telegram Style Groups
In yet another inspiration from the rival app, WhatsApp seems to prepare a different category for WhatsApp groups: Communities. This type of chat is focused on creating larger communities, with the right to subgroups, much like the Telegram Channels.
Service evaluation by WhatsApp
WhatsApp bets heavily on the interaction between merchants and customers on the messenger and, to enhance the shopping experience, it prepares an online service evaluation system. Information about the resource is still scarce, but the function can help the establishment understand what it should improve to refine communication.
Login to multiple devices “version 2.0”
Connecting to multiple WhatsApp devices currently only works between mobile phone and computer, but this will change in the future. “Zap” plans to allow login on more than one cell phone at a time, too
