WHATSAPP is working on five major updates to the app – including a brilliant change to group chats.
Details of the updates have been revealed online, and they’ll eventually affect all WhatsApp users.
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WhatsApp typically tests its new features in the beta version of the app.
This is a trial app that you can sign up for, and lets users test out changes before they go live to the world.
The cyber-sleuths at WABetaInfo regularly mine this app for updates, and have uncovered five key changes coming to your phone.
Sadly, it’s impossible to say when all of this features will roll out on the general version of WhatsApp.
Some could take days or weeks, while others may be months away.
WhatsApp updates revealed
Here are five of the new features being developed for WhatsApp right now…
- A redesigned disappearing messages section that’s easier to use
- The ability to quickly open chats with your own phone number, so you can talk to yourself
- A companion mode that lets you add an additional phone number to your existing WhatsApp account
- Automatic muting when you join extremely large WhatsApp groups
- New support for system-wide Do Not Disturb, which will reveal the calls you missed while “silenced”
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These changes should make your life much easier, although there’s no exact release date for any of them.
The group chat feature is particularly helpful: it kicks in if you try to join a group with more than 256 participants.
It’s currently impossible to have a group of beyond 512 members on the live version of WhatsApp.
But WhatsApp is also testing a separate change that expands maximum group sizes to 1,024 people.
WhatsApp group sizes were originally capped at 100 people, before changing to a limit of 256 in 2016.
Then earlier this year, WhatsApp ramped this up to a frankly enormous 512 people.
If you want to try all of the latest WhatsApp features first, follow our guide below.
How to get WhatsApp beta
To download WhatsApp beta for your smartphone you need to go to Google Play on your Android and search for WhatsApp.
Scroll down the page until you see “Become a Beta Tester”.
Tap the “I’m In” button and then click “Join” to confirm.
Now all you have to do is wait for the update to the beta version of the app.
Joining the WhatsApp beta on iOS for iPhone is more difficult, and has limited capacity.
Follow Apple’s guide here.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
