2024 was a big year for our favorite messaging service, as it received several quality-of-life changes and numerous design improvements. The app has matured a lot over all platforms including Android, iOS, and the desktop app. Now as the year comes to a close, it’s time we take a look back one last time on all the new features introduced in WhatsApp throughout December 2024.
New WhatsApp Features Added in December 2024 (Stable)
In this section, we will go through all the new features, changes, and additions in WhatsApp that are rolling out for everyone on WhatsApp. If you haven’t received them, update the app to enjoy these benefits.
1. Animated Confetti Reaction
- Available on Android and iPhone
With the holiday season upon us, WhatsApp has a surprise in store for us with a new animated confetti emoji. This new emoji will show up in the reactions tray, and selecting it will show a colorful animation of a confetti pop-up. The feature is quite fun and I hope this one stays beyond the holiday season. It is so much fun to use it when reacting to wishes and greetings from others.
2. WhatsApp Document Scanner
- Available on iPhone
WhatsApp is rolling out a new document scanner feature for iPhone users of the app. You can find it from the attachment window, then click on the Document tab and select the Scan document option. It automatically scans and crops the documents accordingly and highlights the text. It can come in useful for several situations, and I do hope it makes its way to Android devices soon.
3. Choose Group Call Participants
- Available on Android and iPhone
You can now select users when placing a group call. This was a much-needed feature as typically placing a voice call in a group would ring it for everyone. And some people may be stuck in a situation where they cannot receive the call. Allowing users to select participants rings the phone for only selected members. However, others can chime in on the ongoing call.
4. Dedicated Call Tab
- Available on Desktop App
The desktop version of WhatsApp has also seen a facelift this month. The major change comes with the introduction of a dedicated calls tab that was missing on the app. So now, not only can you place calls to your contacts, but also create call links or dial a number directly. This makes the experience more coherent throughout different platforms.
Upcoming WhatsApp Features in December 2024 (Beta)
These are all the exciting WhatsApp features that are currently being tested under the beta program. They are only available for certain users at the moment and will arrive for others at a later date.
5. WhatsApp Call Dialer
- Testing on Android
WhatsApp is testing an in-app dialer interface that will allow you to make WhatsApp calls directly by entering the number. This will let you make calls without saving a number. The built-in interface offers a bigger dial pad, making it easier to place calls. The app will check whether the number is associated with a WhatsApp account before dialing, and in the case of businesses, it will show a blue checkmark.
6. Forward Messages and Media to Meta AI
- Testing on Android
Meta AI is quite helpful if you just want to ask for suggestions, or have a random query answered. But currently, there’s no easy way to share chats or media files with the chatbot unless you copy or paste it, of course. But soon the app will allow you to forward messages directly to AI and ask queries related to it. This will increase the ease of using the generative AI tool that is available on the app.
7. Translate Chats on WhatsApp
- Testing on Android
The wide adoption of WhatsApp lets you connect with users across different borders without paying any extra tariffs. However, there is still a language barrier that may prove difficult to overcome for some. That could be why the company is working on an option to translate messages natively. You will have to download the language pack as everything will take place on your device. You can read more about this feature in our dedicated coverage.
8. Reply to Voice Messages
- Testing on Android
Similar to video messages, WhatsApp is also experimenting with a quick shortcut to reply to voice notes. Tapping the little button will let start recording that you can quickly reply with. However, the option only appears when listening to a voice message by the other person in the chat. Not sure how I feel about this feature, as I can already quickly reply to voice notes by swiping on them.
9. Online Counter for Group Chats
- Testing on Android
WhatsApp group chats have always lacked the option to show how many members are currently online on the app. However, it seems like the app is finally bringing it with an upcoming update. It will show the number of participants currently active on the app at the top of the chat page. But do note that people who have hidden their online status won’t show up on this counter.
10. Unified Status Updates Menu
- Testing on Android
WhatsApp status page has also transformed into the hub for your Channels as well. That is why, the company may unify the two experiences, allowing you to create status updates or channels from the spot. As you can see from the screenshot, tapping on the New update button will show options for Photo, Camera, Text, and New Channel.
However, I am not a fan of this design as it does make it a bit more confusing for the user. They might not get at first that they need to tap on the share update option to join new channels.
11. Connect AI to WhatsApp Business
- Testing on Android and iPhone
AI is all the buzz these days and WhatsApp isn’t unknown to it. Now in efforts to improve their business experience, the service is testing an option to let business owners connect AI services to WhatsApp. This will let them leverage AI to respond to customers when their staff is busy. To maintain trust and transparency, customers will be notified that they are talking to an AI chatbot.
12. Manage Playback Speed for Videos
- Testing on Android
To enhance your content-watching experience on the app, WhatsApp is testing a playback speed option. It shows up next to the progress bar when playing a video. You can tap on it to toggle between 1.0x to 1.5x or 2.0x. This skips through those boring videos sent by your relatives who insist you on watching them. The feature is in beta and may arrive for everyone at a later date.
13. Share Content on Other Apps
- Testing on Android
More often than not, we ask our friends for photos to upload to Instagram, Facebook, or other platforms. However, you need to first download the photo, then go to another app and upload it there. WhatsApp will streamline this process by allowing you to share media or texts directly with other apps. As you can see in the screenshot, you can share to either other social media apps or copy a link for that content. This will make sharing across apps easy on WhatsApp.
14. Chat History Sync Progress
- Testing on iPhone
WhatsApp has already made linked devices more usable by allowing you to update status, and join channels. But now they can also show your chat history sync progress. This way, you can better understand how much of your chat is synced to the linked device, and how much is left. This is a minor change but offers more transparency to the user.
15. Reverse Image Search On Desktop
- Testing on WhatsApp Web
Last month we discussed that WhatsApp is working on a reverse image search feature powered by Google baked into the app itself. But now the company is expanding this feature to the web version of the platform. While it is currently under testing, it will let you directly search for images you have received allowing you to identify fake news and frauds easily.
This wraps up this list of new WhatsApp features for December 2024 and with that, we bid adieu to this year. There were a lot of new and exciting features that we came across this year and hopefully, the team at WhatsApp has a lot more interesting updates awaiting us next year. Do let us know which feature you have received in this list, and what features were your favorite this year in the comments below.
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