Nobody wants to admit it, but everybody has a favorite. WhatsApp knows this, and so one of the social messaging giant’s latest updates is “Favorites,” an easy way to organize the contact details of your top people and stay in touch.
The Meta-owned WhatsApp has over 2 billion monthly active users and counting, so rolling out improvements to the app can have a big impact on a lot of people.
In this guide, we detail the flurry of updates recently implemented by WhatsApp, including how to use the new “Favorites” feature.
Say Hello to Your “Favorites”
As detailed in the WhatsApp blog announcement yesterday, the new “Favorites” functionality allows you to “quickly find the people and groups that matter most.”
In a few easy steps, you can effortlessly contact and access your very own VIPs under the “Calls” and “Chats” headings:
- Open WhatsApp on your mobile device, tablet or desktop
- In the Chats screen, select the Favorites filter and select your contacts or groups.
- On the Calls screen, select Add favorite. You can then pick as many contacts as you’d like, all of whom will be grouped at the top of the page.
- Then select Done when you’re finished.
- Manage your favorites by going to Settings > Favorites > Add to Favorites, where you can reorder your besties at any time.
This latest update isn’t available to everyone just yet. So, if you haven’t got Favorites, don’t panic – you’ll find it rolled out to all users over the next couple of weeks.
Other New WhatsApp Features
WhatsApp is no stranger to refining its beloved instant messaging platform for the benefit of all: making it pain-free for people to stay connected and helping us all to capitalize on our social-media scrolling.
In June, the company announced a number of calling updates. This meant the platform was now able to support up to 32 people on video calls; initiating a speaker spotlight function to let attendees easily identify who’s talking – or who’s loudly rustling their packet of crisps – and screen sharing with audio, which allows a user’s audio and video stream to be shared to the group.
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Coming just a month prior were additions to WhatsApp Communities, which are only gradually being implemented. To help make it simpler for groups with common interests to plan and discuss big events, a number of new features were added. Among them were organized replies and Events. The former reduces the stress for admins juggling heaps of replies – minimizing and grouping them together and – mercifully – muting the dreaded “ding, ding” of incoming notifications.
Meanwhile, April saw Meta AI filter down to all its product offerings – Instagram, Facebook, and of course WhatsApp. Rolled out in the US and coming to a dozen or so other countries soon, it promises invaluable AI assistance in-app. That means being able to search the best places for dinner while simultaneously keeping the conversation flowing in your sibling WhatsApp chat.
WhatsApp Business: New and Improved
It’s not just individuals benefiting from the raft of app updates being rolled out, many of them driven by advances in AI technology. Debuting in early 2018, WhatsApp Business has also witnessed a number of changes: for example, helping to integrate social media into a company’s sales and marketing departments more seamlessly.
There were a trio of improvements announced in April, though so far, they’ve had only a limited rollout. They included AI tools, Meta Verified, and the functionality to call larger business at the touch of a button: a boon for both businesses and its customers.
Meta Verified is a particular benefit: it displays a digital badge on a business’s social medial profile that reassures its customers that the company is registered with Meta, completely legit, and receiving “impersonation protection.”
Although Meta Verified on WhatsApp Business is currently only available currently in Brazil, Indian, Indonesia, and Columbia, it’s a big step in helping to reduce fraudulent activity and scams by separating genuine companies from inauthentic actors looking to trick individuals out of their cash or personal data.
