#digital messaging

The message reactions feature, which was announced last month by WhatsApp, will now be rolled out to its users.

According to GSM Arena, it will work similar to how Facebook's reactions work. The user needs to long-press on a WhatsApp message and select the emoji he or she wants to react with.

Right now, users get to choose from six emojis, as shown by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his Facebook post but WhatsApp has promised to add support for more emojis and skin tones in the future.

The message reactions feature is already available for some users on the latest version of WhatsApp, but it will be about a week or two before it reaches all WhatsApp users globally.

In addition to reacting to messages with emojis, WhatsApp users can also share larger files now since WhatsApp has increased the file transfer size from 100MB to 2GB.

Besides, WhatsApp has doubled the maximum number of participants allowed in a group chat, from 256 to 512 people.

However, as per GSM Arena, the platform has said that it is "slowly rolling out the ability" to add up to 512 people to a group, so users will have to wait before you can add more than 256 members to a WhatsApp group.

The Meta-owned instant messaging application WhatsApp is reportedly planning to add a new Facebook-like cover image.

The feature has recently been spotted by WhatsApp development tracker WABetaInfo.

"When the feature is enabled for beta testers, there will be some changes in your Business profile settingsa, said WABetaInfo.

According to the screenshot shared by the WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is planning to introduce a camera button in user's Business Settings. In this, users can select a photo or take a new one use as a cover photo.

When any other user from the contact list will visit your business profile, they will be able to see your newly-set cover photo along with the profile photo and status.

The ability to set cover photos is currently under development for WhatsApp Business Accounts.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is also working towards releasing the 'Community' feature in a future update.

Community is a private place where group admins will have more control over some groups on WhatsApp.

Verizon Communications will make Google's Messages the default messaging app on all Android devices it sells starting next year, the U.S. wireless carrier said on Tuesday.

With that move, Verizon would join peers AT&T Inc and T-Mobile US Inc in propping up competition to Apple Inc's iMessage service.

Alphabet Inc-owned Google's Messages comes with features similar to those in iMessage, using Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology to replace SMS-based texts.

Apple's iMessage is limited to users who use the company's devices, and the iPhone maker has not yet indicated any plans to extend the feature to Android users.

Technology News Only one in 250 people understood how end-to-end encryption secures the privacy of their chats on messaging apps and are willing to pay some amount to protect their conversations, a study has found.

"Understanding Consumers Perspective on Encryption in India," by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International), had 2,113 respondents aged between 18 and 65.

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All respondents-- an almost equal number of males and females--used WhatsApp, 20 per cent used Telegram, 8 per cent used iMessage, 2 per cent used Signal, 1 percent used Viber, and 2 per cent used Line.

WhatsApp is building a new feature that will allow more than four people to join group audio and video calls, responding to the growth of video meeting apps as people work from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Spotted on Thursday by WABetaInfo, a fan website that tracks WhatsApp updates, the latest WhatApp Beta update revealed the company is planning to extend the limit of participants in a voice or video group call.

"WhatsApp, probably due to the concerns for the Covid-19 and the fact that more users are using group calls, has decided to extend that limit to allow calls with more participants," said the report.

The company is yet to reveal how many users will finally be able to join the group call. It will come to know when the new calling feature is rolled out globally.