WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.23.15.13.
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is widely rolling out a message reaction feature for community announcement groups, and it’s available to more beta testers today!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Message reactions – community announcement group |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.15.13 is marked as a compatible update, but some users may be able to get the same feature by installing the 2.23.14.19 update. |
| I’ve installed the update but I don’t have this feature. Why? | This feature is available to some beta testers, and it’s rolling out to even more people over the coming days. |
| Thanks: | Saadh Jawwadh, for testing and reporting. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp for iOS and Android get a feature to quickly open chats with unknown phone numbers! |
MESSAGE REACTIONS
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.14.19 update, we announced that a phone number privacy option was available. With this feature, WhatsApp highlights that your phone number is protected and hidden in community announcement groups and it’s only visible to the community admin, your contacts in your address book, and other participants you already share a group with. In the same article, we also explained that a feature to react to messages within community announcement groups was available, but it was limited to some beta testers. With the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.15.13 update, which is available to some beta testers, WhatsApp is widely rolling out the message reaction feature within community announcement groups to more beta testers!
As you can see in the attached screenshot, some community members may be able to react to messages shared within the community announcement group after installing the latest update from the Google Play Store. Thanks to the phone number privacy option, your full phone number is hidden from other community members so your reactions won’t reveal your phone number. Note that there may be some temporary limitations in using this feature, as it may not be available in large communities. Specifically, some users may be unable to react to messages shared within community announcement groups that exceed 1024 participants, even if the feature is available to their accounts. As a precaution, we recommend testing this feature within a community with less than 1024 community members.
In our opinion, this feature may be considered highly beneficial to the community admin. Enabling community members to add reactions to the messages shared in the community announcement group can greatly assist the community admin in gathering feedback on the updates they share. In addition, we think it can also help other community members reach similar conclusions.
The message reaction feature for community announcement groups is available to some beta testers that install the latest WhatsApp beta for Android update from the Google Play Store, and it is rolling out to even more people over the coming days.
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