Meta’s WhatsApp is spotted testing several features for the free cross-platform messaging service. The features started showing in certain beta versions of the app, with one of the features being limited to business users.
WhatsApp has been getting a lot of improvements recently through the release of new features. And according to recent reports from WABetaInfo, Meta is continuously testing new features for the app. One feature spotted currently on test is included in the beta version 2.23.11.15 of WhatsApp Beta. In this test, users will reportedly be allowed to include usernames in their accounts, allowing them to contact each other using unique names instead of numbers. It is not new, nonetheless, since this is already present in other communication platforms, including Twitter, which plans to use user handles as a new form of contact details for video calling.
Another feature WhatsApp is testing is a screen-sharing feature, which should allow users to share their screens with others and record the interaction. This is included in the 2.23.11.19 version of the WhatsApp for Android beta. Nonetheless, WABetaInfo noted that the “feature may be unavailable on old versions of Android, screen-sharing may not work in large group calls, and the recipient may be unable to get the content of your screen in case they are using an outdated version of WhatsApp.” And like the feature mentioned above, screen sharing capability is not original for WhatsApp. Meta’s Messenger app already offers the feature, but its expansion to other Meta-owned apps is still a welcome improvement.
Lastly, WhatsApp is testing the new “Status Archive” business tool for WhatsApp Business for Android, allowing them to share their previous status updates with customers. Once available, users will have the option to enable the feature, which will archive the status updates on the device after 24 hours. The status updates will reportedly be stored on the device for up to 30 days. As WABetaInfo explained, the idea behind the feature is to “republish a status from their archive and share the same status with their customers again.”
The test for the new features follows Meta’s announcement about the rollout of editing capability within WhatsApp. The feature, however, has a time limit of 15 minutes after sending the message. It works by pressing and holding a particular message until the menu containing the “Edit” option appears. After editing the messages, an “Edited” tag will appear to indicate that the text has been altered, but no history will be shown to display what exactly has been changed.
