WhatsApp is beginning to implement in the final version of its app —finally— some of the features that the company ad or showed in its test versions months ago. The messaging app has officially begun to roll out communities, to be able to more precisely manage large groups, similar to how it is possible to do it in Discord or Slack. The Meta-owned service has also started adding the ability to conduct surveys in chats, as well as a new maximum number of members in video calls.
The most important novelty, however, are the new communities that, we reiterate, they are very similar to what we can do in Discord or Slack. Unlike WhatsApp groups, in communities there is no limit of people, and it is possible to create additional channels or groups to organize different events or talk about different ones. For example, in a community of users who are fans of an artist, there may be a channel for news about the artist himself, another for events, etc. whatsapp also allows the sending of announcements through a section in which only administrators can write.
WhatsApp communities will also have a lot of prominence in the messaging app itself. They will be displayed in a tab located in the main menu, next to the option of chats, states and calls.
Surveys come to WhatsApp
Surveys, a function already present on Instagram and that we have seen in the testing phase for WhatsApp, are now officially available in the application. Users will be able create questions with options to vote in group chats and thus agree in a more intuitive way, since it prevents each person from responding individually in the group. The votes, yes, are public.
Finally, WhatsApp has also added a maximum number of users that can be part of a group. Until now, the company allowed to add 512 participants. The number amounts to 1024 users. The maximum number of members in calls has also increased, going from 8 to 32 participants.
These novelties, let us remember, were officially announced months ago and have been present in the respective test versions and being deployed in selected markets. Now, however, they reach all users globally, although it could be done in stages. That is, it is likely that some of the functions will be available on your mobile in the coming weeks.