WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.15.18: what’s new?
WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.23.15.18.
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is working on a message reaction feature for channels, and it will be available in a future update of the app!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Message reactions – channels |
| Status? | Under development |
| Availability? | WhatsApp is working on bringing a message reaction feature for channels to a future update of the app. |
| I’ve installed this update but I don’t have this feature. Why? | This feature is under development so it is not ready to be released to beta testers, but you can discover a preview in this article. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp is experiencing severe outages with connecting to the server! |
MESSAGE REACTIONS
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.15.13 update, we shared information regarding a message reaction feature for communities. With this feature, users can easily react to messages shared in the community announcement group, without revealing their phone numbers to unknown community members. However, WhatsApp is also working on bringing the ability to react to messages to channels: this is what we discovered through the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.15.18 update from the Google Play Store:
As you can see in the attached screenshot, WhatsApp is working on implementing a new section called “Channel settings”. In this section, admins will be able to manage certain options for their channels. Specifically, WhatsApp has plans to allow channel admins to manage which reactions followers can send to the channel. Thanks to this discovery, we can finally confirm that message reactions are coming for channels. In reality, this was not so unexpected since the community announcement group already provides users with the ability to react to messages, but this discovery further confirms their plans to bring this feature to channels.
In our opinion, this feature may be beneficial in certain situations. In some contexts, a certain level of seriousness may be necessary, and adding particular emojis to certain messages could potentially bother other channel followers. By disallowing the use of any emoji with the “Default only” option, WhatsApp aims to prevent misunderstandings and avoid causing any annoyance. However, WhatsApp also knows that this option might somewhat limit the variety of emojis that can be used. As a result, WhatsApp will also provide channel admins with the choice to enable the ‘any emoji’ option. Lastly, channel admins will also be able to disable reactions for their channels for some reason.
The message reaction feature is under development for channels and it will be released in a future update of the app. As always, we will publish an additional article when we have further details about this feature to share with you.
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