WhatsApp has been working on supporting usernames for months. The messaging app could soon allow users to opt for unique handles to reach others without sharing their phone numbers. A new WhatsApp beta build has now revealed that the company may also let users set PINs to limit spam and unwanted interactions.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.24.18.2 references PIN support when setting up a username. If the feature comes to fruition, you will be able to select a PIN as an optional safety measure. This way, those with your WhatsApp username will still need the chosen digits to initiate a chat with you.

This feature could make it challenging for spammers and other bad actors to contact you, as you will always be able to change your PIN if someone posts it publicly. WhatsApp may also let you turn off the PIN altogether if you want to make your profile more easily accessible.

Beyond PINs, WhatsApp will likely let users choose whether new chats reveal their usernames or phone numbers. By opting for the former identification method, users can conceal their phone numbers completely, making WhatsApp a more private messenger.

Keep in mind that WhatsApp usernames and PINs are still under development, and these features are unavailable to beta testers yet. As a result, there’s no telling when and if the company will roll them out to its users.

WhatsApp is arguably the most popular messaging app, connecting billions of users around the globe. Naturally, many bad actors rely on the platform to spam others for a number of reasons. To help users keep their inbox under control, WhatsApp is working on at least two new features that should reduce unnecessary interruptions.

The first feature is a new like reaction for status updates. According to WABetaInfo, the company is rolling out the addition to some Android users running version 2.24.17.21 beta. When enabled, users’ status likes will appear in the viewers’ list instead of being sent to the primary inbox as a heart emoji. Users will also get to turn off these reaction notifications optionally, as many don’t consider them time-sensitive alerts.

Meanwhile, the second feature could automatically block spammers when their messages reach a certain volume. The leaker emphasizes that this tool is still under development, and it’s seemingly unavailable to any public beta testers for now. If WhatsApp proceeds with implementing it and you enable the relevant toggle, your inbox should block certain spammers on its own.

Given that the first feature is in beta and the second is still under development, it could take WhatsApp months to roll them out to all users. That’s assuming it doesn’t axe them altogether. Nevertheless, these additions should help users maintain their inbox more easily — whenever WhatsApp decides to release them.

WhatsApps use of phone numbers has left user privacy wide open to spam and harassment. Since phone numbers are needed for setting up accounts and receiving messages, its easy for people to misuse them. To fix this, the Meta-owned messaging platform has been working on usernames since early 2023, so users can chat with unique handles instead of sharing their phone numbers. Now, a recent beta build hints that WhatsApp might add the option to set up PINs for extra protection against unwanted messages.

It seems like 2024 will be remembered as the year when every tech giant raced to make its version of AI chatbot a staple of our daily lives. While Google Gemini and ChatGPT are currently the top contenders, Meta has been slowly integrating Meta AI into its popular apps — Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — making it easier than ever to chat with Meta’s take on an AI chatbot.

But what about the rest of us who don’t have the patience to type in long, tedious prompts for AI chatbots? I’m glad you asked because WaBetaInfo has uncovered a new feature in the WhatsApp beta for Android (version 2.24.16.10) that will allow users to send voice messages to Meta AI. Previously, communication with Meta AI was limited to text and image-based interactions.

A screenshot shared by the publication gives us a glimpse of what this might look like, with a voice message button appearing right in the Meta AI chat interface. This suggests that sending voice messages to Meta AI could work very similarly to how it works in regular conversations. While there are no details about the languages that Meta AI will support for voice messaging, given WhatsApp’s popularity in South Asian countries, Meta is likely to prioritize multilingual support.

The big question now is whether the new voice chat feature will enable Meta AI to perform specific functions within WhatsApp, such as replying to messages or suggesting responses, or if it will primarily act as a general voice assistant for tasks like web searches and recommendations. If it leans towards the latter, Meta AI may face stiff competition from the default voice assistants that our smartphones already come with.

We’ll be eager to see how this new feature unfolds in the coming months. The voice chat feature is currently available to a limited number of beta testers, but it should soon be available to a broader user base.

It seems like 2024 will be remembered as the year when every tech giant raced to make its version of AI chatbot a staple of our daily lives. While Google Gemini and ChatGPT are currently the top contenders, Meta has been slowly integrating Meta AI into its popular apps — Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — making it easier than ever to chat with Meta’s take on an AI chatbot.

But what about the rest of us who don’t have the patience to type in long, tedious prompts for AI chatbots? I’m glad you asked because WaBetaInfo has uncovered a new feature in the WhatsApp beta for Android (version 2.24.16.10) that will allow users to send voice messages to Meta AI. Previously, communication with Meta AI was limited to text and image-based interactions.

A screenshot shared by the publication gives us a glimpse of what this might look like, with a voice message button appearing right in the Meta AI chat interface. This suggests that sending voice messages to Meta AI could work very similarly to how it works in regular conversations. While there are no details about the languages that Meta AI will support for voice messaging, given WhatsApp’s popularity in South Asian countries, Meta is likely to prioritize multilingual support.

The big question now is whether the new voice chat feature will enable Meta AI to perform specific functions within WhatsApp, such as replying to messages or suggesting responses, or if it will primarily act as a general voice assistant for tasks like web searches and recommendations. If it leans towards the latter, Meta AI may face stiff competition from the default voice assistants that our smartphones already come with.

We’ll be eager to see how this new feature unfolds in the coming months. The voice chat feature is currently available to a limited number of beta testers, but it should soon be available to a broader user base.

If WhatsApp is your preferred instant messaging app, you certainly arent alone. Meta, the tech giant behind WhatsApp, has made it a point to continue evolving the messenger through several means. Whether its the addition of new features or the accessible interface that keeps you coming back, make no mistake Meta has made many of these updates to not only satisfy its users, but maintain its competitive edge in a crowded field. Now, a new type of sticker pack is rolling out for those very reasons.

Plenty of work has been put into improving WhatsApp Status in recent months, from extending the video limit to bolstering its privacy. Now, the chat app is set to improve how these updates are displayed, rearranging them through a new ranking system.

Per WABetaInfo, status updates will soon be displayed based on contacts’ popularity and perceived importance. More specifically, you’ll be more likely to see status updates from those you speak to often and have spoken to recently, those who are pinned, and status updates soon to expire. WhatsApp will then order your status tray based on these criteria. Notably, this change seems to go hand-in-hand with WhatsApp’s larger redesign, showcased in May.

Recently, certain states in the US have passed age verification laws. Intended to curb children’s access to pornographic materials as well as protect children from accessing sites without their parents’ permission, the laws are popping up at a fast pace in mostly Republican states across the nation. There are also bills in various stages of development in other states.

Now, it looks like Meta is getting WhatsApp ready to comply with these laws. According to WABetaInfo, the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (v.2.24.12.25) includes code that presents certain users with a prompt asking for birth year information. The prompt warns you that you cannot change the information later and that you are required to provide it to continue using WhatsApp.

WhatsApp, the popular messaging platform, is reportedly preparing to introduce age verification for users in Europe. This move comes as the minimum age requirement for ...

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Meta has been busy baking AI features into the world’s most popular messaging app. While users in select regions can already chat with the Meta AI chatbot inside WhatsApp, the company’s plans extend beyond that. Based on a recent WhatsApp for Android beta build, it seems the messaging service will soon allow users to generate images using text prompts.

After analyzing WhatsApp for Android version 2.24.12.4 beta, WABetaInfo found references to a new feature called Imagine. According to the leaker, this upcoming addition will allow users to enter text prompts inside WhatsApp and have Meta AI generate relevant images. The feature will seemingly reside in the attachment menu users rely on to send contacts, documents, media, and more.

In May 2023, Meta introduced the Chat Lock feature in WhatsApp, which allows you to lock and hide chats behind a passcode or biometric authentication. While this is a very useful feature, it only works on primary devices. Fortunately, last month we got to know that the company had started testing Chat Lock on linked devices by rolling it out to a limited number of people. Well, Meta is now making the feature available to more people.

According to a new report from WABetaInfo, the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (version 2.24.11.9) offers the Chat Lock feature on linked devices as well. More importantly, the feature seems to be available for everyone who is using this version of the app rather than just to a select few users.

The story continues after the video…

At the moment, there’s no information about when Meta will make this feature available in the stable version of WhatsApp. However, we expect the company to roll it out to the public after thoroughly testing it in the beta version of the app, which could take at least a couple of weeks.

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WhatsApp prioritizes user privacy, offering various features to safeguard sensitive conversations. One such feature is Chat Lock, which allows users to shield specific chats behind ...

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WhatsApp has seen numerous adjustments to its design over the years, with the last major change occurring in 2021. The company has now refreshed the app once again. While some of the changes have already rolled out to the iOS and Android app, there are some new changes as well.

Today, WhatsApp announced it is updating the appearance of its platform to help keep it looking fresh, simple, and approachable. To do this, the firm has applied a variety of changes, one of the most notable being a new color palette. Along with having a more consistent green palette, WhatsApp says they have also increased the usage of neutral colors, which it claims allows it to be more selective about where and how the green is used throughout the app.

You may see an error message that says, "This account is not allowed to use WhatsApp" when opening the messaging app on your smartphone, Chromebook, or laptop. This message likely means you're facing an account ban. WhatsApp only bans accounts when users partake in activities that go against its Terms of Service. However, there are things you can do to appeal the ban.

WhatsApp betas give us an excellent idea about upcoming feature additions. While not all of them make it to the stable version of the app, features that are designed to improve existing functionality generally get the green light. Similarly, we recently came across a WhatsApp beta that revealed work on revamping how people search for new Channels with the help of categories. A follow-up update is now providing additional info on this front.

WhatsApp has seen numerous adjustments to its design over the years, with the last major change occurring in 2021. The company has now refreshed the app once again. While some of the changes have already rolled out to the iOS and Android app, there are some new changes as well.

Today, WhatsApp announced it is updating the appearance of its platform to help keep it looking fresh, simple, and approachable. To do this, the firm has applied a variety of changes, one of the most notable being a new color palette. Along with having a more consistent green palette, WhatsApp says they have also increased the usage of neutral colors, which it claims allows it to be more selective about where and how the green is used throughout the app.

A few days ago, Meta started rolling out an update to WhatsApp for Android which brought a completely new user interface to the messaging platform that’s more convenient to use, offers new features, and looks cleaner and more modern. However, the company hadn’t made any announcement regarding it back then, most likely because it hadn’t made the redesigned UI available to everyone. Well, the brand seems to have completed releasing the app’s new design to everyone, and with that, Meta has made an announcement about it.

In a new post on X (previously known as Twitter) and Meta’s official website, Meta announced that it is “rolling out design updates to give WhatsApp a fresh new look, while keeping it familiar + easy to use.” The new design brings quite a few changes.

The story continues after the video…

First, it has tabs at the bottom of the screen instead of at the top, and now there are four tabs instead of three (Meta has replaced the Status tab with Updates and Communities tabs). Second, it offers chat filters right above the chats list, which makes it easier for you to find unread and group chats. Third, you now have a search bar instead of a search button. Fourth, you get a new color palette and new icons, all of which make the app look much better. You can check out the difference between the old and the new design in the image below.

To get the new design in WhatsApp on your Galaxy smartphone or tablet, update the app to the latest version from the Google Play Store. The redesigned UI is live in version 2.224.9.78 of the app on our Galaxy S23 in India. The new UI is also live on iOS.

The post WhatsApp gets an exciting new design on Android appeared first on SamMobile.

WhatsApp betas give us an excellent idea about upcoming feature additions. While not all of them make it to the stable version of the app, features that are designed to improve existing functionality generally get the green light. Similarly, we recently came across a WhatsApp beta that revealed work on revamping how people search for new Channels with the help of categories. A follow-up update is now providing additional info on this front.

WhatsApp has seen numerous adjustments to its design over the years, with the last major change occurring in 2021. The company has now refreshed the app once again. While some of the changes have already rolled out to the iOS and Android app, there are some new changes as well.

Today, WhatsApp announced it is updating the appearance of its platform to help keep it looking fresh, simple, and approachable. To do this, the firm has applied a variety of changes, one of the most notable being a new color palette. Along with having a more consistent green palette, WhatsApp says they have also increased the usage of neutral colors, which it claims allows it to be more selective about where and how the green is used throughout the app.

A few days ago, Meta started rolling out an update to WhatsApp for Android which brought a completely new user interface to the messaging platform that’s more convenient to use, offers new features, and looks cleaner and more modern. However, the company hadn’t made any announcement regarding it back then, most likely because it hadn’t made the redesigned UI available to everyone. Well, the brand seems to have completed releasing the app’s new design to everyone, and with that, Meta has made an announcement about it.

In a new post on X (previously known as Twitter) and Meta’s official website, Meta announced that it is “rolling out design updates to give WhatsApp a fresh new look, while keeping it familiar + easy to use.” The new design brings quite a few changes.

The story continues after the video…

First, it has tabs at the bottom of the screen instead of at the top, and now there are four tabs instead of three (Meta has replaced the Status tab with Updates and Communities tabs). Second, it offers chat filters right above the chats list, which makes it easier for you to find unread and group chats. Third, you now have a search bar instead of a search button. Fourth, you get a new color palette and new icons, all of which make the app look much better. You can check out the difference between the old and the new design in the image below.

To get the new design in WhatsApp on your Galaxy smartphone or tablet, update the app to the latest version from the Google Play Store. The redesigned UI is live in version 2.224.9.78 of the app on our Galaxy S23 in India. The new UI is also live on iOS.

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WhatsApp just got a new update that introduces two new features the company says are meant to bring communities closer together. One of those features is event planning, and the other is replies in Announcement Groups.

In a blog post, the WhatsApp team announced it is rolling out new features for WhatsApp Communities. The first new feature will allow users to plan events directly on the app. This can include occasions like birthdays, dinner parties, or virtual meet-ups. As the firm explains, anybody in the group can set up an event and others can RSVP to make it easier to know who is attending.

WhatsApp, one of the most popular chatting apps, recently introduced a “Recently Online” feature in its beta app for Android. Now, evidence discovered by WaBetaInfo within the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS (24.9.10.71), available on TestFlight, suggests that iOS users may soon receive the same functionality.

The Recently Online feature is showing up for select beta users and provides a limited view of your contacts’ recent activity on WhatsApp. When you go to start a new chat or initiate a call, you’ll now see which contacts have been active within a recent timeframe.

If you’ve recently found yourself staring at unfamiliar buttons and prompts on your favorite Meta apps, you’re not alone. The recent rollout marks the debut of Meta AI’s latest large language model, Llama 3, promising more personalized interactions but also potentially more intrusive AI suggestions. Still, this is the closest it has ever been to ChatGPT.

But what if you’re not ready to embrace the AI revolution? What if you find the integration more cumbersome than helpful? Maybe you hate that the answers are not completely reliable. But is there any way to turn off the new Meta AI integration and regain some semblance of your pre-AI browsing experience?

Meta has announced that it will soon be adding two new features to WhatsApp, the ability to create events in groups and the ability to reply to messages in Community’s Announcements Groups. Let’s take a detailed look at them.

Starting with the first feature, WhatsApp will soon let you create an event in a group, such as a birthday or a get-together. You can add a date and a time to this event. Once you create an event, the app will send it as a message to the group and will also add it to the group’s information page. That’s not all though. People will be able to respond to the event, allowing them to let others in the group know if they are attending the event or not, or share their thoughts about the event. The new feature makes it easier to plan an event with members in a group.

Coming to the second feature, WhatsApp will soon let everyone in an Announcement Group reply to messages in it. Currently, only admins can send messages there, and non-admin members can only read messages in them. The upcoming feature will make Announcement Groups more conversational, and therefore, more useful. What’s even better is that when people reply to a message in it, the app will keep those messages minimized and not notify you about them to make sure that you’re not constantly disturbed by  every message.

Meta says “Events are coming to groups that belong to a Community first, and will roll out to all groups over the coming months.” Unfortunately, the company didn’t say when it will roll out the ability to reply to messages in Announcement Groups.

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WhatsApp’s relentless development continues, with the platform consistently receiving bug fixes and exciting new features. This unwavering focus on user experience aims to deliver an ...

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While messaging apps were initially aimed at serving personal users, they soon became a desired tool among businesses. With that in mind, popular messaging apps like WhatsApp were prompted to add more business-driven features, including Communities, business profiles, and Facebook Shops Integration. However, the WhatsApp platform still has significant untapped potential to incorporate more business features.

With over two billion users worldwide, WhatsApp faces a constant barrage of technical inquiries. To manage this demand effectively and provide timely support, Meta, WhatsApp’s ...

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In many parts of the world, WhatsApp is the de facto king of instant messaging apps. Many of us use it for all of our communication needs, be they work or personal. Communication can go beyond reactive needs, and it appears that WhatsApp wants to encourage people to have more proactive conversations. New features have been spotted in the messaging app that gently points users to talk to their recent online contacts.

WABetaInfo has spotted several features in WhatsApp beta releases that would help proactive conversations. For instance, WhatsApp is said to be working on a feature that suggests contacts to chat with. A new section at the bottom of the main chats list will suggest new contacts from the user’s address book that they can start chatting with. This section could point users to talk to people they haven’t talked to before on this platform.

WABetaInfo also spotted that the app could list recent online contacts. When you go to your contacts list to add people to a call, you will see a few recent online contacts that you haven’t interacted with. This isn’t a comprehensive list, and it respects the user’s privacy setting on their online status. But it is still helpful to know if someone has been recently online before you place a call.

It is interesting to see the instant messaging app focus on proactive communications. Apps like Telegram notify users in their main chat list whenever a new contact joins the app, which is very annoying. WhatsApp doesn’t do this, but if these leaked features come to fruition, then you could brace yourself from hearing from people you haven’t spoken to in a while.

Enlarge / An Apple Store in Shanghai, China, on April 11, 2024. (credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Apple said it complied with orders from the Chinese government to remove the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China. Apple also removed Telegram and Signal from China.

"We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree," Apple said in a statement quoted by several news outlets. "The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. These apps remain available for download on all other storefronts where they appear."

The Wall Street Journal paraphrased a person familiar with the matter as saying that the Chinese cyberspace agency "asked Apple to remove WhatsApp and Threads from the App Store because both contain political content that includes problematic mentions of the Chinese president [Xi Jinping]."

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Meta is continuously rolling out new features for its apps to enhance the user experience, and this applies to WhatsApp perhaps more than any of the company's offerings. The end-to-end encrypted instant messaging service was recently spotted piloting a feature that allows users to transform any image into a sticker, for instance. While this certainly adds another layer of personalization to the app, the usability of such features invites some privacy questions. Now, it looks like Meta could be addressing these concerns before they become problematic.

Big tech companies are getting their ducks in a row to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act. The new competition rules came into effect on March 6, following which the likes of Google and Meta have announced how they plan to comply and what’s changing for end users.

The Android version of WhatsApp is finally getting a feature that’s already on other versions of the app. It should make finding specific conversations much easier to find.

On his WhatsApp channel, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced WhatsApp on Android is getting a “search by date” function. With the feature, Android users will be to find a specific conversation by choosing a date instead of relying on a date range. Zuckerberg demonstrated this by finding a video about karaoke from a previous discussion.

If you want to search for a chat from a particular date, you’ll have to tap on the contact or the group chat to get into the details. From there, you’ll need to tap on the search button, located just under the contact or group name. Once you see the calendar icon, you can tap on it to bring up a calendar and select the date you’re looking for.

In related news, the latest beta version (2.24.5.17) from the Google Play Beta Program is introducing a way to share the QR code from the chats tab, according to WaBetaInfo. This feature should help make it easier to find and connect with others.

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto)

WhatsApp will soon be granted access to explore the "full functionality" of the NSO Group's Pegasus spyware—sophisticated malware the Israeli Ministry of Defense has long guarded as a "highly sought" state secret, The Guardian reported.

Since 2019, WhatsApp has pushed for access to the NSO's spyware code after alleging that Pegasus was used to spy on 1,400 WhatsApp users over a two-week period, gaining unauthorized access to their sensitive data, including encrypted messages. WhatsApp suing the NSO, Ars noted at the time, was "an unprecedented legal action" that took "aim at the unregulated industry that sells sophisticated malware services to governments around the world."

Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied. Then, last week, the NSO lost another fight to keep WhatsApp away from its secret code.

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WhatsApp has long offered the same set of formatting options (bold, strikethrough, italics, monospace). Now, the company has announced that it’s finally offering four more options.

With the number of people using WhatsApp daily, it’s no surprise that some bad actors find ways to take undue advantage of the platform. Profile photo abuse is one of the most common annoyances, wherein people download your profile photo for nefarious reasons. The platform has taken plenty of steps to make this difficult, and a new report suggests it could soon add a final nail to this coffin and solve the problem for good.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is rolling out a new privacy feature to beta testers. This feature blocks screenshots of profile photos.

Soon, WhatsApp could restrict the ability to take screenshots of the profile picture. When attempting to do so, the app will block the action and inform the user that they cannot take a screenshot.

The report does not mention this, but we believe WhatsApp could be using the Flag_Secure window attribute that treats the window’s content as secure. When apps use this attribute, the Android system blocks screenshots and screen recordings of that window. There are still ways you can get past this, but it does make it significantly difficult as compared to simply taking a screenshot.

WhatsApp has added other measures to safeguard profile photos. Profile photos were once easily downloadable, but that ability has long been removed. Users also have the option to display their profile photo to either nobody, their contacts, some of their contacts (through a denylist), or everyone. The same options are available for the last seen and online status indicators, about page, and status updates. Restricting screenshots will go a long way in preventing bad actors from sharing or using someone else’s photos without their consent.

Opinion post by

Rita El Khoury

10 years ago to the day, Facebook announced that it was purchasing WhatsApp for $19.6 billion — that’s billion, with a B. The news rocked the online world for several reasons, not the least of which being Facebook’s iffy privacy and data handling reputation, plus its propensity to use ads anywhere, which contradicted with WhatsApp’s core principles and what everyone had loved about it so far.

The online media and communities weren’t clement about that purchase either, criticizing the sale, scrutinizing Facebook’s promises, and generally being pessimistic about WhatsApp’s future. As a WhatsApp user myself and a forced Facebook user (my friend created my profile before we graduated college so we could all keep in touch, and I barely used it), I felt conflicted by all of it. I wanted to move away from WhatsApp right then, but I also had all of my friends and family on it. Even some businesses too. I was sure not everyone would be as bothered as I was by the ownership transfer and, even if I could convince my close ones, I couldn’t convince an entire nation and culture.

Using WhatsApp for the first few months after that purchase felt 'dirty.'

Using WhatsApp for the first few months after that purchase felt “dirty,” but the sale slowly faded into the back of my mind. Every few months, something would come up that would remind me of Facebook’s involvement with WhatsApp, I’d feel icky again, and then just learn to ignore it. Even when WhatsApp changed its policies, I clicked on “Agree,” with all the resentment and resignation of the world.

Then WhatsApp’s co-founders left Facebook, and Cambridge Analytica happened, followed by many other Facebook scandals. With a bit of distance, and knowing I objectively didn’t like where things were at but was still sticking around on WhatsApp, I slowly realized that my relationship with the service transcends any other relationship I have with other apps and messaging apps on my phone.

My relationship with WhatsApp transcends any other app on my phone; it is engrained in my real life.

WhatsApp isn’t just WhatsApp to me, it’s the way I communicate with everyone I love. It has photos and voice notes from my dead grandma, my early flirtations with my now-husband, and every high and low I went through during those hellish 2019-2021 years while my country’s economy collapsed, COVID happened, half of Beirut blew up, I shut down my pharmacy, and I moved to France. WhatsApp was, whether I wanted to or not, engrained in every aspect of my real life. You can’t fabricate an emotion like that with an app.

With time, too, I noticed that WhatsApp didn’t get worse — at least not as bad as other social networks and messengers did. Until this very day, the service is still, mostly, ad-free, unlike the scourge of Instagram (Facebook’s other big social purchase). There’s no algorithmic feed either. You control your contacts, who can reach out to you, who sees you and your photos, which WhatsApp communities, channels, and businesses you communicate with, which groups can invite you in, and so on. You get end-to-end encryption across multiple devices too. All in all, 10 years later, it feels like WhatsApp has escaped the worst of Facebook.

10 years later, it feels like WhatsApp has escaped the worst of Facebook.

And in a way, Facebook itself has recently been on a bit of a redemption arc. Oh, I’m not even remotely convinced it’s all in good faith, but it was fun to see people rooting for Threads over X, for example, or falling for the Meta Quest 3 over the Apple Vision Pro. Look how far we’ve fallen that we’re choosing the least bad of two very bad options. But I digress.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that despite everything that felt iffy, 10 years ago, about this deal, it didn’t turn out as bad as we had all collectively imagined back in 2014.

Today, Telegram and Signal are right there, but they play that supporting actor role in my life, and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if I lost access to them this very instant. WhatsApp on the other hand? It’s how I talk to my parents and aunt back home and that, my friends, says it all.

With the number of people using WhatsApp daily, it’s no surprise that some bad actors find ways to take undue advantage of the platform. Profile photo abuse is one of the most common annoyances, wherein people download your profile photo for nefarious reasons. The platform has taken plenty of steps to make this difficult, and a new report suggests it could soon add a final nail to this coffin and solve the problem for good.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is rolling out a new privacy feature to beta testers. This feature blocks screenshots of profile photos.

Opinion post by

Rita El Khoury

10 years ago to the day, Facebook announced that it was purchasing WhatsApp for $19.6 billion — that’s billion, with a B. The news rocked the online world for several reasons, not the least of which being Facebook’s iffy privacy and data handling reputation, plus its propensity to use ads anywhere, which contradicted with WhatsApp’s core principles and what everyone had loved about it so far.

The online media and communities weren’t clement about that purchase either, criticizing the sale, scrutinizing Facebook’s promises, and generally being pessimistic about WhatsApp’s future. As a WhatsApp user myself and a forced Facebook user (my friend created my profile before we graduated college so we could all keep in touch, and I barely used it), I felt conflicted by all of it. I wanted to move away from WhatsApp right then, but I also had all of my friends and family on it. Even some businesses too. I was sure not everyone would be as bothered as I was by the ownership transfer and, even if I could convince my close ones, I couldn’t convince an entire nation and culture.

Using WhatsApp for the first few months after that purchase felt 'dirty.'

Using WhatsApp for the first few months after that purchase felt “dirty,” but the sale slowly faded into the back of my mind. Every few months, something would come up that would remind me of Facebook’s involvement with WhatsApp, I’d feel icky again, and then just learn to ignore it. Even when WhatsApp changed its policies, I clicked on “Agree,” with all the resentment and resignation of the world.

Then WhatsApp’s co-founders left Facebook, and Cambridge Analytica happened, followed by many other Facebook scandals. With a bit of distance, and knowing I objectively didn’t like where things were at but was still sticking around on WhatsApp, I slowly realized that my relationship with the service transcends any other relationship I have with other apps and messaging apps on my phone.

My relationship with WhatsApp transcends any other app on my phone; it is engrained in my real life.

WhatsApp isn’t just WhatsApp to me, it’s the way I communicate with everyone I love. It has photos and voice notes from my dead grandma, my early flirtations with my now-husband, and every high and low I went through during those hellish 2019-2021 years while my country’s economy collapsed, COVID happened, half of Beirut blew up, I shut down my pharmacy, and I moved to France. WhatsApp was, whether I wanted to or not, engrained in every aspect of my real life. You can’t fabricate an emotion like that with an app.

With time, too, I noticed that WhatsApp didn’t get worse — at least not as bad as other social networks and messengers did. Until this very day, the service is still, mostly, ad-free, unlike the scourge of Instagram (Facebook’s other big social purchase). There’s no algorithmic feed either. You control your contacts, who can reach out to you, who sees you and your photos, which WhatsApp communities, channels, and businesses you communicate with, which groups can invite you in, and so on. You get end-to-end encryption across multiple devices too. All in all, 10 years later, it feels like WhatsApp has escaped the worst of Facebook.

10 years later, it feels like WhatsApp has escaped the worst of Facebook.

And in a way, Facebook itself has recently been on a bit of a redemption arc. Oh, I’m not even remotely convinced it’s all in good faith, but it was fun to see people rooting for Threads over X, for example, or falling for the Meta Quest 3 over the Apple Vision Pro. Look how far we’ve fallen that we’re choosing the least bad of two very bad options. But I digress.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that despite everything that felt iffy, 10 years ago, about this deal, it didn’t turn out as bad as we had all collectively imagined back in 2014.

Today, Telegram and Signal are right there, but they play that supporting actor role in my life, and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if I lost access to them this very instant. WhatsApp on the other hand? It’s how I talk to my parents and aunt back home and that, my friends, says it all.

WhatsApp continues to be the premier instant messenger choice for many users worldwide. While it works very well as an IM app, the service has ambitions that go beyond just pure texting needs. Most IM apps these days want to build a community on their platform, and they adopt features like stories and channels to get texters more engaged and spend more time on the app. WhatsApp could be revisiting how it presents its Stories feature to users, making it easier for them to learn more from just a glance.

As per a report from WABetaInfo, WhatsApp could be looking at refreshing the status update page. A future update could present a redesigned interface for the status update tray. While the tray would sit at the top of the updates tab, it could get large preview windows that make it easier to skim through the first story from each person without clicking open any of them.

On Android, WhatsApp currently has a top bar with dedicated tabs for Communities, Chats, Updates, and Calls. Within the Updates tab, Android users who do not follow Channels currently have a vertically scrolling list for all stories, with more screen space given to names than to the story preview. If you follow Channels, you get an Instagram-esque circle indicator for stories in a horizontal scrolling list but no real previews.

The redesign would bring the tabs to the bottom and give stories a horizontally scrolling list with large previews, where the focus is more on the content than on the person’s name. It would be a better experience than what is presented right now.

This new preview window for stories is not live yet and could likely appear in a future version of the app. Do you like these new larger previews? Let us know in the comments below!