WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature called “Communities” that would allow a group of several thousand people to communicate. It is not a question of becoming an open chat service, the particularities of messaging remain.
Before its takeover by Facebook (now Meta), WhatsApp was a service relatively close to that of SMS. This operation in a restricted circle is intended and it is for this reason that it is necessary to have the telephone number of the person contacted and that the discussion groups are capped at 256 participants.
WhatsApp is a free and secure instant messenger that allows you to keep in touch with all your friends or family, you can download and install it on all platforms.
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Downloads:
18586 -
Release date :
04/11/2022 -
Author :
WhatsApp -
Licence :
Free license -
Categories:
Communication
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Operating system :
Android, Online service All Internet browsers, Windows 32 bits – XP/Vista/7/8/10/11, Windows 64 bits – XP/Vista/7/8/10/11, iOS iPhone, macOS
However, times are changing and more and more organizations, businesses or communities (like expatriates within the same country) are using WhatsApp to communicate quickly and easily. The concern is that the current service is relatively limited.
Communities, WhatsApp’s answer
In order to allow these user groups to function as they wish, WhatsApp is slowly starting to roll out a new tab called “Communities”. This community will then be divisible into subgroups separated from each other.
However, administrators will have the possibility to send group messages to one or more subgroups in a simplified way. One can imagine the IT manager of a company broadcasting an instant message of information to a particular department or to all the members of the company.
This new feature is a bit like what Telegram, Microsoft Team or even Discord offers, although only administrators can broadcast intergroup messages. Likewise, knowing a person’s number will always be necessary to add them to the group and a community cannot be searched or suggested by any algorithm.
The implementation of this feature will be done gradually as feedback from the tests in progress and remains likely to evolve between now and its global deployment.
Some new features for everyone
WhatsApp is also adding some more global features to its app. So group admins can now delete a thread for everyone, users can:
- share files up to 2 GB
- react to a message with an emoji (thumbs up, heart, laughing, open mouth, sad, folded hands)
- initiate voice calls with up to 32 people.