WhatsApp for iOS 25.16.74: what's new?

WhatsApp has released a new iOS update through the App Store, bringing the version up to 25.16.74.
What's new in this update? WhatsApp is finally releasing a fix to address a bug with opening web links in chats, groups, and channels, and it's available to everyone!

In the article about the WhatsApp for iOS 25.15.75 update, we announced that a feature to manage the voice message transcript language on a per-chat basis is available. This update introduces a new section within the chat info screen, allowing users to select a preferred transcription language for each individual conversation. This enhancement eliminates the need to constantly switch the global app language settings, streamlining the experience and ensuring that transcripts better reflect the language used in each specific chat. Unfortunately, this update also introduced a bug that prevents the app from opening web links shared within chats, groups, and channels, affecting a large number of users.

With the WhatsApp for iOS 25.15.75 update, several users reported a frustrating issue related to link sharing. Specifically, when a link was sent or received in a chat, group, or channel, tapping on it no longer opened the associated website. The action of tapping the link was simply not recognized by the app, preventing users from accessing external content directly. Many users reported the issue on different social media channels, highlighting that it disrupted their normal communication flow. The inability to open links directly created a significant inconvenience, as it prevented quick access to important information, such as shared articles, event pages, channel updates, or business websites.

As a temporary workaround, some users discovered that by tapping and holding the link, a dedicated menu would appear, as shown in the attached screenshot. This menu also includes an option to open the link manually, which provided at least a partial solution. Others accessed the chat info screen, navigated to the "Shared Links" section, and opened the links from there. While these workarounds allowed access to the links, they were far from intuitive. Many users were not aware of these options and assumed that the app was simply broken. As a result, this bug caused confusion and created significant inconvenience for users.

Thankfully, the latest WhatsApp for iOS 25.16.74 update successfully fixes this issue. This means that users can now open links directly again by simply tapping on them, as expected. In addition, another bug fix is expected to roll out soon. This upcoming update will address an issue affecting marking voice messages as heard. The bug, which has already been fixed in the latest beta version on TestFlight, is now scheduled to be included in an upcoming release for the stable version on the App Store.

A fix to address a bug with opening links in chats, groups, and channels is available to users who install the latest version of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store. Please make sure to install this build in order to use a version of WhatsApp without experiencing the bug.

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