Over the past few weeks, we’ve noticed a few new WhatsApp features being beta tested, but finally, they’re ready for public release.
Following last week’s catastrophic WhatsApp outage, the messenger application attempts to butter us up with a few nifty features. The list seems vast, but we’ve picked out our favourite features — Managing chat backups to better-controlled voice notes.
One of the coolest new WhatsApp features is the ability to control the size of chat backups that get uploaded on the cloud. This further allows users to pick and choose what kind of data they’d like to upload, be it audio files, photos, videos, or documents/PDFs. Everything will be, as WhatsApp says, ‘end-to-end encrypted’ on the cloud. Furthermore, users will get five data storage options to pick and choose from, which can be customised, toggled on, or off at any time. This update is available in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.21.21.7.
The second WhatsApp feature is the ability to pause a voice note, mid-recording. If you’ve tried sending a long voice note, fumbled, and had to redo it, we feel you. This seems to fix exactly that. You can pause voice recordings that will further allow you to segment them at your convenience. Reports suggest that this feature is currently only ready for Android, iOS versions are still in their beta testing phase but should be out soon.
Enough about functionality, let’s talk looks. WhatsApp also seems to be redesigning the way contact profiles look. Taking cues from its business app, where users tap on a contact’s profile picture and view three options — Chat, Audio Call, and Video Call. Below that, there’s the contact’s bio. This certainly looks like a much cleaner and fuss-free interface. There’s still no official word on when the new WhatsApp features will arrive, but it should be just around the corner. This nifty redesign will be a part of WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.21.19.2.
All images: Courtesy Unsplash
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Mikhail Gomes
Features Editor, Lifestyle Asia India & Contributor - Augustman
A watch aficionado, Mikhail also enjoys learning about fine whiskies, and one day hopes to establish his own menswear label. At Lifestyle Asia India, he writes on watches, menswear, auto and tech.
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