Soon enough, Facebook owned WhatsApp is going to bring in a lot of features, which are still being tested upon by their internal team. It was rumored that Facebook was to monetize WhatsApp with Ads as millions of users are registered on it. This rumor came to be true when Facebook announced in their Annual Facebook Marketing Summit in Netherlands that Year 2020 onwards, WhatsApp Status will get Ads similar to what we have now on Instagram stories.
There will be a profile picture with the advertiser’s name on the top left-hand side of the phone, when the advertisement is active. You will also be able to swipe up from the bottom of the advertisement, to contact them or to go to their website similar to Instagram Stories which most of us are familiar with. It will be useful to various advertisers as many users across the globe are using WhatsApp and it will really help Advertisers to promote their brand really well.
Source: Twitter- Oliver Ponteville Source: Twitter -Matt Navarra
WhatsApp always surprises us with useful features. So, listing a couple of Upcoming Features on it for all of my readers who are viewing this Article are :
- Dark Mode: As iOS 13 is on its way on June 3rd 2019 and with the system-wide Dark Mode in some of the Android devices, WhatsApp is also to bring in Dark Mode to integrate with the respective Operating systems like iOS and Android. According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is soon going to be releasing Dark Mode for all its Android users. The in-depth research of the WhatsApp version 2.19.82 beta reveals that it has a code for Dark Mode, which is disabled until the Public Beta release.
- In-App Browser: Many of the Apps nowadays have an In-App browser. Few examples are YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. WhatsApp Beta Version 19.74 includes an In-App browser which is disabled at the moment and is under development and is soon going to be released to the Public.
- Sharing WhatsApp status to Facebook Stories: WhatsApp is testing the feature of sharing WhatsApp status to Facebook stories in their Beta Build 2.19.151. This feature is being tested internally and is not available now for Public Beta Testers. It will add an option to add to Facebook Story similar to what we see on Instagram when we post.
- Sharing Contact via QR code: Soon, WhatsApp users will be able to create their contact profile via a QR Code and users will be able to share it to others as well. It is similar to the Instagram Profile QR Code generation feature.
- Privacy Settings on Groups: A feature coming on WhatsApp will bring an option on who can add people into a group. This can be set by the Group creator. The App will have three options – Nobody, My Contacts and Everyone.
- Forwarded message info: The Forwarded message info feature will enable users to see how many times the message has been forwarded. WhatsApp Beta Version 2.19.80 introduced this feature and it is yet to be released as a stable version. Group Admins will be able to restrict frequently forwarded messages onto the group. They will have a choice in the group settings enabling them to choose which participant can send frequently forwarded messages.
- Biometric Authentication: WhatsApp introduced a Biometric Lock Feature which is already available for iOS users, enabling them to unlock the chats through Touch ID or Face ID. Though, this feature is being tested in the Android Beta Version internally.
- Sticker Preview in the Notification Centre: WhatsApp has enabled this Feature in its Betas in iOS, though it is yet to be released for Android Betas. Currently, in Android, it shows only the word –“Sticker”.
Author: Pururaj Dutta
Pururaj is the Vice President of Appleosophy and Silicon Report, in addition to being the Manager of popular Redfruit Media platforms such as TechPod Social and Apple Summit. His seasoned experience plays a pivotal role in the success of Redfruit Media, contributing significantly to shaping the ever-evolving tech landscape. As a tech aficionado, he enjoys exploring & reviewing new products, and sharing his insights with the community. With an unwavering passion for technology, Pururaj is committed to delivering accurate and insightful information to his readers.
