A couple of new updates are on the card for WhatsApp, both of which are likely going to be very popular among users. The first of these updates is a done deal, and it involves a series of updated message reactions that users can implement to better communicate with others on the platform. After widely rolling out message reactions to all users, it seems that WhatsApp is trying to level up these reactions by giving them a facelift.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this feature is currently only available to beta testers. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a wider rollout is planned in the coming weeks. This will greatly widen the number of Emoji reactions that users can react to messages that they receive with, and plenty of users can already see the plus icon in their message reaction menu which indicates that they have received the update.
The second feature is associated with WhatsApp’s media editor. The messaging platform is working on a blur tool that would allow users to censor certain parts of their images. This update is not new, since iOS users have been able to use it for quite some time now. However, the unique thing about this update is that it is being worked on for desktop users as well. Using WhatsApp on desktop is a novel way to take advantage of the platform and the company has been striving to improve it so that they can stay on par with rapidly rising competitors.
Users have been forced to use third party tools to blur images which is less than ideal because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising their privacy. Having a feature like this directly on the platform allows users to take advantage of WhatsApp’s end to end encryption to ensure top notch privacy and security. This will greatly improve the security of the average WhatsApp user when it gets rolled out widely.
Read next: New Study Reveals Serious Privacy Concerns in Period Tracking Apps
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this feature is currently only available to beta testers. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a wider rollout is planned in the coming weeks. This will greatly widen the number of Emoji reactions that users can react to messages that they receive with, and plenty of users can already see the plus icon in their message reaction menu which indicates that they have received the update.
The second feature is associated with WhatsApp’s media editor. The messaging platform is working on a blur tool that would allow users to censor certain parts of their images. This update is not new, since iOS users have been able to use it for quite some time now. However, the unique thing about this update is that it is being worked on for desktop users as well. Using WhatsApp on desktop is a novel way to take advantage of the platform and the company has been striving to improve it so that they can stay on par with rapidly rising competitors.
Users have been forced to use third party tools to blur images which is less than ideal because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising their privacy. Having a feature like this directly on the platform allows users to take advantage of WhatsApp’s end to end encryption to ensure top notch privacy and security. This will greatly improve the security of the average WhatsApp user when it gets rolled out widely.
Read next: New Study Reveals Serious Privacy Concerns in Period Tracking Apps
