WhatsApp recently expanded the capabilities of message reactions by adding support for all possible emojis. And it appears like more changes are in tow for the recently introduced feature on the messaging platform, as suggested by a recent beta test. Here’s what to expect.
WhatsApp Testing Message Reaction Previews
The latest report by WABetaInfo reveals that WhatsApp is testing reaction previews as part of the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.2.16.6 (some are also getting it on the version, 2.22.16.5). The new feature will show a text preview when a message of a chat gets a reaction.
It is revealed that a chat list will now show up a preview of a message reaction at the top to notify you of the latest reaction to a message. This is applicable to both individual and group chats. The report includes a screenshot to showcase what this will be like and here’s a glance.
The report also mentions that this functionality will be enabled no matter what. So, even if you turn off message reaction notifications, you will still see reaction previews when the latest update comes in.
You should know that this ability is still being tested for a few beta users and there’s no word on whether or not it will be released for more people to use. Even if it does, a timeline isn’t available.
This comes in addition to the previously rumored feature update for reactions, which hinted at a detailed info section about reactions on shared media. This will allow you to see which media in the automatic album has been reacted to. Presently you will have to open up the shared media album to see these details. Since this is also being tested, we don’t know if this will become an official feature.
Whenever and if they get introduced, these new updates for reactions will join the recent one, which now allows people to use any emoji to react to a message, which was an option on Instagram for a long time. So, what are your thoughts on the aforementioned message reaction features on WhatsApp? Do you think they will be helpful? Do let us know your thoughts on it in the comments below.
