Facebook will take advantage of the popularity of WhatsApp to offer more services and utilities next year.
For a few
years now, the vast majority of users do not conceive of another way of
communicating that is not through WhatsApp. It has replaced the phone
calls, SMS have been forgotten and even on many occasions it has even
supplanted emails.
Facebook,
the company behind WhatsApp is aware of the potential that the application has
with 1.5 billion users worldwide and is preparing a battery of changes
in 2021 to take the service to a new level and make it more useful and
versatile.
These
changes will not arrive suddenly on January 1 or to all users at the same time,
but it is expected that during the next year they will appear on our mobile
phones little by little in order to improve our experience.
Vacation mode
WhatsApp is
also not far behind, and there are many ways to make the most of the
application, such as user messages that self-destruct. In addition, a
"Vacation mode" is being prepared that will allow you to disconnect
from the application so that no one bothers you while you are enjoying your
free time.
Dark mode
It is one of
the most anticipated functionalities of the application and one that has been rumored
for the longest time, which could be one of the first to arrive. It will
allow users to change the appearance of the application for a dark
interface just like other applications such as Instagram, YouTube or the
Android and iOS operating systems themselves have done.
This
adoption of the dark mode is expected to extend not only to the menus
but also to the maps that appear in the application, notifications, share menus
and many other additional windows.
The dark mode not only allows the user to better adapt their vision to the mobile when it has less ambient light, such as while consulting it in bed, but it also manages to optimize battery consumption so that it can stretch a little more the autonomy of the smartphone.
QR code identification
As in other messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp will allow users to identify themselves through QR codes, which will allow them to add them to the agenda without having to know their phone number.
This functionality was introduced in November by the specialized portal WA Beta info and pointed out that after scanning the QR, the user will be able to add the phone number that has been shared with the application to the agenda. Likewise, the user may also choose not to have a QR code associated with his account if he/she so wishes.
The identifier is especially useful for companies. And it is that through WhatsApp Business both neighborhood businesses and large corporations can open a channel of communication with their customers, either to sell products through the app or to establish customer service.
Own browser
The
filtration of beta for Android showed that WhatsApp was preparing its
own browser within the application, so that the links that are shared in
the different chats can be seen directly from it without having to leave there.
This
responds to two main strategies on the part of the company. The first is
the retention of the user within the application, which stops giving
traffic to browsers -mainly- Apple and Google.
On the other hand, WhatsApp ensures that the links shared in its chats do not contain access to malicious files that can pose a problem for the security of its application and its users. A potential risk that the company wants to tackle by taking control of the links sent.
Enhanced searches
How many
times have we gone to look for something in a chat that a friend told us and we had a good time to find the phrase or term in question? WhatsApp
wants this process to be much more affordable and that going back to retrieve important information is
not an ordeal.
This option,
which is expected to come to the iPhone first, will not focus on texts but will
also, track the multimedia files that we have sent as well as the links and
documents that are within the conversations. An especially interesting
point to turn WhatsApp into an alternative to email.
Image locator
If with the
previous WhatsApp function, it let us navigate in a chat to find more
information, with this the company will let us search among all the files that
we have received in the app so that finding that photo that they sent us two
months ago is much easier.
This search
engine will function similar to that of Google Images, according to WA
Beta Info, but with our personal file and in this case it is expected to
be on Android beforehand, where it was tested internally but was quarantined.
Filters and boomerangs
Facebook
will take advantage of the advances of Instagram to transfer part of
them to WhatsApp. The messaging application will improve the ability to
take photos to share in your chats with new functions.
It is
expected that throughout 2021, users will be able to apply both new filters to
the images they take directly from the WhatsApp application, as well as to make
boomerangs (short animations) that have been especially popular in recent
times. Precisely WhatsApp already allows sharing Gifs of small videos or
photos with the movement of the iPhone or Pixel.
Expired messages (it's available now)
Many groups
and organizations, especially focused on politics, are opting for alternatives
to WhatsApp in which messages are deleted over time. The application
wants to avoid this leakage of users by incorporating the same functionality
over the next year.
WhatsApp is
expected to incorporate a system in which the user can establish the expiration
of the message so that once the date has passed, it disappears completely without
leaving a trace.
Avoid unwanted groups
Throughout
2020 WhatsApp has been working to avoid one of the most annoying things that
happen in its application: adding a user to a group without having
wanted to. It is hoped that in the first half of the year this can be
remedied.
WhatsApp
will enable an option in which the user's permission will be necessary so that
another contact can add you to a group. The user can establish a more restricted range on who can add him to a group conversation, as well as
specific users who can never do so.
Audio from notifications
Just as
certain messages can be read directly from notifications, WhatsApp wants voice
notes to be heard in a more accessible way.
The idea is
that users can play the audio files that users send directly from the
notification, without having to enter the application. It is also
expected that the playback of this content can be better integrated into car
applications such as Apple Car Play or Android Auto.
User segmentation
With the idea of encouraging the use of its platform for companies, Business, WhatsApp
will go beyond automatically differentiating which accounts are business and
which are user accounts. Specifically, it will allow company accounts to
automatically segment which users are, for example, customers and which
are suppliers.
It is speculated that this functionality could be extended further and reach all users so that they can establish categories with types of contacts, which would lead WhatsApp to be a real alternative to other work applications such as Microsoft Teams or Slack.
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