WhatsApp will soon roll out 4 feature updates to users. Users will be able to send images that can only be viewed once, similar to Snapchat. The view once feature is currently available to WhatsApp iOS beta users. iOS beta users will see an updated how message notification. It will allow users to see a message in the notification itself. Archived chats will remain on mute by default. Users will manually need to check archived chats for any new messages. Multi-device support is now available on the WhatsApp desktop beta.
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There isn't any fixed date for when these updates will become available to all users but WhatsApp has started rolling out the features to more users and seems close to a wide release. More details below:
View Once Messages
View once messages will bring Snapchat-like capability to WhatsApp. When users are sharing an image from their gallery or have taken a picture from the WhatsApp camera, there will see a new icon in the caption field. The icon will have the number ‘1’ in it. Users need to tap that icon to send the image as ‘view once’. The recipient of the image will not see a preview. They will only be able to view the image once. After they exit the window, the image will disappear. Senders will receive a notification once the image has been viewed. The feature is not limited to images but applies to different types of media. It can be used for video files as well.
Read messages without 'read receipts'
How new message notifications are displayed will be updated. Users will be able to expand the notification banner and see the full message in the notification panel itself. They will also be able to scroll up to see chat history as well. No, read receipt, i.e. blue tick will be sent until you open the chat window.
Mute archived chats
WhatsApp is also changing how archive chats work. Archived chats will now be on mute by default. If users want to see any new messages that many have come on these chats they will need to open them.
Multi-device support
WhatsApp users have eagerly been awaiting multi-device support. WhatsApp can only be used from a single device. There is WhatsApp web but that requires the primary device to be connected to the internet and provide authorization. With multi-device support, users will be able to run WhatsApp on up to four devices without any reliance on the primary device. Commenting on the feature Facebook (parent company of WhatsApp) head honcho, Mark Zuckerberg said, "It's been a big technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we've solved this and we're looking forward to getting it out soon." The feature is currently available to desktop beta testers.
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