WhatsApp to get 5 new features

WhatsApp is working on a bunch of features and it is expected to release them in the near future.

The company is reportedly planning to add a new option for last seen, a new disappearing chats feature, and a redesigned group info page. WhatsApp could also soon allow sending high-resolution videos or images, reports The Indian Express on Saturday.

New option for Last Seen

In the near future, WhatsApp will add the ability to hide last seen for a specific contact. This feature has been spotted by WaBetaInfo and it is soon expected to hit the stable version. The cited source reported that the new option will be made available to iOS and Android users.

The messaging service is set to add a “My contacts except” option in the privacy settings, which will allow users to enable last seen for specific contacts.

This feature will be useful when you don’t want to show some of the people when you were last online on WhatsApp. It is important to note that if you don’t share your last seen with anyone, then you won’t be able to see other people’s last seen.

Disappearing chats

According to WaBetaInfo, this mode will be available for both one-on-one chats and groups on WhatsApp. This feature is an expansion to the already existing disappearing messages feature.

The upcoming disappearing chats feature “will automatically convert new chat threads to ephemeral chat.” One will find this in the Privacy settings. After enabling it, all the messages in every new chat or group will reportedly disappear after a short period of time.
If one doesn’t want all their messages to get deleted, then they will have to keep the disappearing chats feature off. The cited source says WhatsApp will notify users when disappearing messages mode is enabled in a new chat. The feature was recently spotted in the 2.21.18.7 WhatsApp beta version.

Group icon editor, redesigned group info page

It is also working on a new group icon editor feature, which was spotted in Android beta version 2.21.20.2. The new feature will allow users to quickly create icons for groups when they don’t have an image. One will also get an option to choose the background colour of the icon. WhatsApp could also offer emojis and stickers as an option.

Apart from the group icon editor feature, the messaging service is also working on redesigning the group info page, and users might see chat and call buttons front and centre.
This redesign was spotted in the 2.21.190.15 WhatsApp for iOS beta version, as per WaBetaInfo. The new design seems to offer bigger buttons for chat, audio, and video calls. The admins might be able to share the invite link as well. Both the features could be available soon.

High-resolution videos or photos

The company will soon bring a new feature to the app that will let users select the video or photo upload quality. The report suggests that users will soon be able to choose between a ‘Best Quality’ mode, a ‘Data Saver’ mode, and an Auto mode that will determine the quality of video clips you share.

Images into stickers

WaBetaInfo just recently reported that the messaging app is planning to add a new feature, which will allow users to convert their images into stickers. When the feature is rolled out to users, they will see a new sticker icon next to the caption bar when they upload a new picture on the app.

When one selects that icon, WhatsApp will send the image as a sticker and not as a regular picture. This feature is currently under development and is available in the 2.2137.3 desktop beta version.