After the official launch of WhatsApp Communities, WhatsApp keeps working on improving the feature by introducing new features and general improvements. This week, WhatsApp is rolling out new updates for communities, available for some beta testers that install the latest version of WhatsApp beta for iOS and Android.
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Communities – update |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Availability? | Android: WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.6.12 and newer versions are marked as compatible updates. iOS: WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.5.0.75 is a compatible update. |
| I’ve installed this update but I don’t have this feature. Why? | The update is available for some beta testers that install the latest versions of the app. You need to wait for a future update in case you don’t have it. |
| Thanks: | Swakshan, Technical MJ TV, and Saadh Jawwadh, for testing and reporting! |
| How to join the community on WhatsApp? | WABetaInfo Community |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.6.20: what’s new? WhatsApp is releasing the ability to see a list of groups they have in common with the contact they are searching for! |
COMMUNITIES – UPDATE
In the past few days, WhatsApp has been focusing on optimizing its community feature, which allows users to create and join groups of people who share similar interests or hobbies. In particular, WhatsApp has recently made some changes to the interface of the announcement group, in order to make it more user-friendly. The changes are available to some beta testers after installing one of the latest updates of the app from the Play Store or the TestFlight app:
WhatsApp has renamed the announcement group to “Updates” and, as you can see in this screenshot, there are two different captions for this conversation, depending on the platform that users are on. In particular, the caption for the announcement group is now called “Home” on WhatsApp beta for Android, and its new name is “Updates” on WhatsApp beta for iOS. This renaming decision may have been made due to the fact that the announcement group is typically a read-only conversation where only community admins can send messages, and it may not fit the traditional definition of a group.
In order to improve the user interface and maintain consistency with other chats, WhatsApp has relocated the community icon from the bottom bar to the chat header. In addition, note that the latest update of WhatsApp Communities on iOS and Android brings a better bug-free experience to community admins when posting messages to their community, and it is just the beginning as WhatsApp continues to work on further fixes for large communities, available in a future update of the app.
To be honest, it is unclear why the announcement group has different captions on iOS and Android. However, it is possible that the same caption will be adopted for both iOS and Android apps in the future, in order to eliminate confusion.
The new update for WhatsApp Communities is available to some users that install the latest versions of WhatsApp beta for iOS and Android and it is rolling out to even more people over the coming days.
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