After the feature being under development for months, WhatsApp is finally allowing a limited number of beta testers to try out creating Polls.
Polls are a feature that has been slowly introduced across almost all social media platforms in existence over the past few years. YouTube added them to the Community tabs, and Facebook and Instagram have them in Stories, with the former even featuring them in everyday posts. Now, WhatsApp’s looking to join the fray by allowing its user base to send polls into chats as well. Since WhatsApp is such a widely used social media platform, with it almost entirely replacing SMS and calling in terms of real-life communication, polls might end up being a more useful feature than one would expect. Coworkers can easily decide on event dates, large friend groups can choose hangout spots, and I’m sure once the feature is widely rolled out people will come up with uses that are more creative than what my bland mind can imagine. Honestly, just a day out seems like a fantasy adventure nowadays, so maybe that’s just what polls represent to me.
The feature was previously under development, as reported by WABetaInfo, but with the recent 2.22.21.16 build, select users will be able to experience them for themselves. This beta build is currently only accessible to Android users, but will slowly be rolled out to iOS users for beta testing as well. However, this isn’t the first that we’ve seen of it. As previously mentioned, polls have been under development for a while, but there was a small window of time during which they were made available for individuals using the desktop version of WhatsApp. With that, combined with recent information regarding the new interface and screenshots, we can paint a relatively clear picture of what polls will appear to the average user.
What we currently know about the feature is as such: anyone can make and send polls since the feature isn’t limited to group admins; a total of twelve options can be added to the polls, allowing users a bunch of selections; multiple options can be selected; and the options can also be manually sorted in specific orders if a user so chooses. Currently, polls have no time limits set to them, and all individuals within a group can see the results publicly. Of course, all of this information may be subject to change, depending on how polls play out with beta testers.
Read next: Whatsapp is improving its preexisting features with its newest update
Polls are a feature that has been slowly introduced across almost all social media platforms in existence over the past few years. YouTube added them to the Community tabs, and Facebook and Instagram have them in Stories, with the former even featuring them in everyday posts. Now, WhatsApp’s looking to join the fray by allowing its user base to send polls into chats as well. Since WhatsApp is such a widely used social media platform, with it almost entirely replacing SMS and calling in terms of real-life communication, polls might end up being a more useful feature than one would expect. Coworkers can easily decide on event dates, large friend groups can choose hangout spots, and I’m sure once the feature is widely rolled out people will come up with uses that are more creative than what my bland mind can imagine. Honestly, just a day out seems like a fantasy adventure nowadays, so maybe that’s just what polls represent to me.
The feature was previously under development, as reported by WABetaInfo, but with the recent 2.22.21.16 build, select users will be able to experience them for themselves. This beta build is currently only accessible to Android users, but will slowly be rolled out to iOS users for beta testing as well. However, this isn’t the first that we’ve seen of it. As previously mentioned, polls have been under development for a while, but there was a small window of time during which they were made available for individuals using the desktop version of WhatsApp. With that, combined with recent information regarding the new interface and screenshots, we can paint a relatively clear picture of what polls will appear to the average user.
What we currently know about the feature is as such: anyone can make and send polls since the feature isn’t limited to group admins; a total of twelve options can be added to the polls, allowing users a bunch of selections; multiple options can be selected; and the options can also be manually sorted in specific orders if a user so chooses. Currently, polls have no time limits set to them, and all individuals within a group can see the results publicly. Of course, all of this information may be subject to change, depending on how polls play out with beta testers.
Read next: Whatsapp is improving its preexisting features with its newest update
