WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Program, bringing the version up to 23.8.0.75. The version marked within WhatsApp Settings is 2.23.8.75 and the TestFlight build is 23.8.0 (467772781).
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is working on channels, a new one-to-many tool for broadcasting information, available in a future update of the app!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Channels |
| Status? | Under development |
| Availability? | WhatsApp is working on bringing channels to a future update. |
| I have the same version 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. |
| How to join the community on WhatsApp? | WABetaInfo Community |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp announced keep in chat feature for disappearing messages! |
723 days, 13 hours, 17 minutes and 49 seconds ago
Check out TestFlight or Twitter to discover when it's available.
CHANNELS
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.8.6 update, we announced that a new one-to-many tool for broadcasting information is under development: channels. Thanks to channels, users will easily be able to receive useful updates from people they choose to get news from. The feature is still in development on the Android app but, thanks to the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.8.0.75 update available on the TestFlight app, we discovered that WhatsApp is also working on bringing this feature to the iOS app in the future!
As you can see in this screenshot, WhatsApp plans to rename the Status tab to “Updates” as channels will also be listed within this section of the app. A WhatsApp Channel is a private tool where phone numbers and user information joining a channel are always kept hidden. However, messages received within a channel are not end-to-end encrypted since the concept of one-to-many wouldn’t make much sense for channels. Note that channels won’t affect the end-to-end encryption of private messaging, which continues to be end-to-end encrypted.
Since this is an optional extension of private messaging and doesn’t pivot to a public social network, people always have control over which channels they want to subscribe to, and no one else can see whom they follow, regardless of whether they’ve added them as contacts or not. In addition, people won’t get auto-subscribed to channels as there are no algorithmic recommendations or social graphs pushing content to users that they didn’t choose to see.
As we said in our previous articles, channels will also support handles, so users can search for a specific WhatsApp channel by simply entering its username within WhatsApp. This feature is designed to improve the accessibility of channels, making it easier for users to get updates that they prefer.
Channels are currently under development and they will be released in a future update of WhatsApp. We’ll keep you updated by posting an additional article on this website when we have further details to share.
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