WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Program, bringing the version up to 22.19.0.72. The version marked within WhatsApp Settings is 2.22.19.72 and the TestFlight build is 22.19.0 (396347817).
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is rolling out the ability to create a community for some lucky beta testers!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Communities |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | WhatsApp beta for iOS 22.19.0.72 is marked as compatible update. |
| I have the same version but I don’t have this feature, why? | This feature has only been rolled out to some lucky beta testers and more activations are planned over the coming weeks. |
| Thanks: | Sed36 and Amethyst, for testing and reporting! |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.20.4: what’s new? WhatsApp is working on moving the privacy section to the main settings screen! |
843 days, 3 hours, 27 minutes and 42 seconds ago
Check out TestFlight or Twitter to discover when it's available.
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.19.3 update, we shared news about communities, a new feature that lets us organize our related groups like the ones about neighborhoods and schools. This feature has been rolled out to some lucky beta testers on WhatsApp beta for Android and there is finally news about iOS beta today:
As you can see in this screenshot, you can immediately notice if the feature is available for your WhatsApp account: just see if the camera tab has been replaced with the communities tab. With this first version of the feature, you can add up to 10 groups while creating the community and up to 50 groups later: these groups are called sub-groups and community members can choose which sub-group to join based on their interests. Community members can also receive messages from community admins within a special read-only announcement group where only community admins can send messages.
At the moment, your phone number is always visible to all other community members when you join a sub-group but WhatsApp is planning to let people hide their phone number to all other group members in a future update.
Even if this beta version is marked as a compatible update, it does not mean that you will immediately be able to create a community: since WhatsApp is launching a very small test, communities are only available to certain lucky beta testers. In addition, even if someone adds you to a community, you cannot use it since the feature is not available to you. In this situation, you need to wait until a future update enables the feature for your WhatsApp account. If you’re looking for a release date when the rollout of the feature is wider, we don’t have it, unfortunately, but we will let you know when there is news to share with you.
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