Skip to main content

Emoji reactions hit WhatsApp as Meta fights the competition

WhatsApp is gaining a slew of new features some would consider overdue for a messaging app of its size. The company is adding support for message reactions, larger file shares, and bigger groups in an update that’s slowly rolling out across iOS and Android. Many of these features are present in other apps, notably Telegram, so WhatsApp is under pressure to keep up.

WhatsApp announces the emoji rollout.
WhatsApp

Message reactions are the most noticeable feature for users on a day-to-day basis. They’re already present on Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Google Messages, Instagram, and Snapchat, so WhatsApp is a pretty late addition. At the moment only a limited number of reactions are present, but the WhatsApp team notes that a broader range of expressions is coming.

Recommended Videos

Emoji reactions are a quick way to reply to messages that don’t always merit more than an acknowledgment. You may laugh-react at your friend’s joke rather than sending ‘Lol’, heart-react to their engagement announcement, or sad-react to their credit card bill. In group chats they are a lot more useful as, rather than duplicate sentiments and generate dozens of redundant messages, people can simply react to messages.

Larger group chats, bigger files

Other than WhatsApp’s new emoji reactions, the app now has support for enhanced file sharing and larger group sizes of up to 512 members. Larger files up to 2GB in size can also be shared, up from 100MB in the previous version of the app. These two features, in particular, may be evidence that Meta, which owns WhatsApp, is hoping to prevent losing users to Telegram, as the rival messaging service had long since held its more expansive file-sharing support and larger group sizes as advantages over WhatsApp’s more limited offerings.

Facebook’s messaging apps may currently dominate the world, but the company must remain aware of the fates of apps such as BBM and Skype, messaging platforms which once stood at the top before being reduced to also-rans and punch lines. Adding new features that are considered standard in other apps is a must, if only to prevent users from one day gradually, then suddenly en-masse, adopting rivals like Signal and Telegram.

Michael Allison
Former Mobile News Writer
A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…
Meta AI is coming to Europe after almost a whole year of negotiations
Meta AI WhatsApp widget.

Meta AI has been around in the United States since 2023 but the company had to delay its launch in the EU due to regulatory concerns. Now, it seems like Zuckerberg's team has finally come to a (limited) agreement with European regulators and will be rolling out a version of Meta AI to the EU.

It looks like some of the kinks are yet to be ironed out, however, since Europe's version of the product will be fairly limited compared to Meta AI in the United States. It will function as a chatbot only, without any of its Llama-powered multi-modal abilities such as generating images or answering questions about photos.

Read more
WhatsApp’s prepping a new photo collage feature for status updates
WhatsApp app icon appearing on a phone.

WhatsApp is developing a new feature for sharing stories called collage photos. As reported by Android Authority, this feature aims to enhance the clarity and effectiveness of status updates.

Found in WhatsApp version 2.25.8.5, the collage photos feature includes a Layout button that appears when you attempt to post a media status. From this button, you can attach up to six photos arranged in various grid options. Additionally, you have the ability to reposition images within the layout to suit your preferences.

Read more
WhatsApp makes move to cut the number of spam messages you get
WhatsApp logo on a phone held in hand.

Are you tired of seeing spam messages and getting notifications about being added to random chat groups from people you don't know? WhatsApp is working to limit the amount of spam messages you receive.

According to a report from TechCrunch, the chat platform announced on Tuesday that it will be testing monthly limits on the number of broadcast messages from both individual and business accounts in the coming weeks as part of an effort to reduce the amount of spam you'll get from those accounts whether you follow them or not. However, it's not entirely clear how many limits there will be.

Read more