Articles about WhatsApp

Online scams are nothing new, but there are now more channels through which they can be run. Among them are social platforms like WhatsApp and Messenger, and it is sad fact that older users are more likely to fall victim

This is precisely why Meta is rolling out a new system of warnings that appear in its messaging apps. The aim is to make users think twice about who they connect to and who they share information with as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

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The adoption of business messaging channels has increased by 53 percent in just one year, driven by AI agents and LLM-powered automation.

A report from respond.io shows small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly engaging customers through platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.

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Like email, SMS, and just about every other method of communication, WhatsApp suffers from spam. There are certainly things that can be done by users to stem the flow of spam that makes its way to their inboxes, but WhatsApp is also trying to help.

The platform has already introduced a system designed to automatically detect and block spam, but it is not perfect; no system is. And so, WhatsApp is trying another approach that will apply to businesses and individuals alike.

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It has been known for a little while that Meta has been working on a username system for WhatsApp. The popular messaging app is slightly unusual in not offering people a way to choose a username, but this is going to change at some point in the future.

Recent beta builds of the iOS and Android apps show that work is gathering paced, and the most recent development is a username reservation system. This will serve as a way for users to try to pre-select their preferred username even before the username system rolls out to everyone.

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WhatsApp has announced the launch of message translations after years of requests from users. Gone are the days of copying and pasting foreign language text into a translation too – everything is now taken care of in the app.

The aim is to allow for easy communication, wiping out language barriers. This is something that can benefit users having one-to-one chats, but it is also helpful in group chats where two or more languages may be in use. For now, it is something that is rolling out to Android and iOS users, and users with Android devices have access to a unique extra feature.

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So much communication takes place on WhatsApp – both personal and business – that it is all too easy to lose track of things that have been said. Just about everyone will recognize the scenario in which someone they have been chatting with asks if they’ve followed up on that thing from last week, only to have the crashing realization that you’d completely forgotten.

To help combat this, WhatsApp is experimenting with a simple idea – message reminders. This feature is currently undergoing testing with some users of the iOS version of the app. Here is how it can help you.

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WhatsApp is a near-ubiquitous messaging app used and loved by millions of people globally. Its popularity does not mean, however, that it is perfect – there are many areas in which there is room for improvement.

Thankfully, WhatsApp developers are not inclined to rest on their laurels and add features, make changes and improvements, and respond to feedback with speed and frequency that puts other dev teams to shame. The latest addition is a welcome one: threaded messaging.

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Read receipts in WhatsApp are getting an upgrade. The two-tick system that appears below the sent message is loved and hated; yes, it lets you know that a message is sending, that it has been received, and that it has been read – but why is there no response now you know that it has been read!?

Putting aside concerns about why someone may be ignoring you, themes in WhatsApp which change the color of the messaging app can be problematic. If you’d become used to read receipts having blue check marks, the fact that some themes changed that had the potential for confusion. Now WhatsApp is addressing this.

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The inescapability of AI continues, and Meta is at the forefront. WhatsApp has already liberally coated itself in features driven by artificial intelligence, and now there are more.

This time around, things are fairly innocuous. The chat platform has now added the option of using AI backgrounds within video chats.

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WhatsApp has addressed a serious security flaw in certain versions of its app. The vulnerability was a zero-click exploit, which the company says was being used to target specific users.

No details have been provided about those who were being targeted, so it is not clear whether they are celebrities, people linked to businesses, or something else. What is interesting, however, is the fact that it was Apple users who had been single out.

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WhatsApp is getting another injection of artificial intelligence in the form of Writing Help. As you would guess from the name, this is a tool designed to help you come up with the perfect message for different scenarios.

With Writing Help being billed as something that could be of assistance in all manner of communication, there will be understandable concerns about privacy. WhatsApp is one step ahead of worried users here, pointing out that Writing Help is built on top of Private Processing technology.

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WhatsApp beta testers have access to a new option that allows them to link to a verified Instagram profile, complete with a special icon that others should recognize.

This ability is not necessarily something that will appeal to or interest all WhatsApp users, but it is certainly something that has value for some types of user. Creators are among those who are likely to welcome this addition, as are companies and brands looking to build trust and drive engagement.

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WhatsApp would like you to leave a message after the beep. In what feels like a blast from the past, Meta is testing what equates to an answerphone service in WhatsApp.

Currently undergoing beta testing with a limited number of users, the feature seeks to encourage conversation and connectivity. You have almost certainly been notified of a missed WhatsApp call on your phone, but how many times has the person who called followed up with a text message? Probably not often, and this is something WhatsApps is looking to address.

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WhatsApp is now an essential communication tool for both personal and business use, and its popularity means that it is also a prime target for scammers. As such, the company has just announced the rollout of a new series of tools designed to help keep users informed and protected.

Among these new tools is a safety warning for group chats that warns about being added to new chat groups by unknown contacts. There are also tools and advice for individual chats, which are also targets for scams.

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There is some disappointing news for WhatsApp users who like to work with the desktop app. In what appears to be part of a streamlining process, Meta is dropping the UWP app in favor of a web wrapper.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this, but few people who have compared the native Windows app with the web-based version off WhatsApp can have failed to notice the performance difference. The WhatsApp UWP app has always been snappier, more responsive, and used fewer resources, so in some ways it feels like a backwards step to switch to a web wrapper.

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