The WhatsApp Reactions feature is finally available to users after months of anticipation. Mark Zuckerberg, through his official Facebook account, revealed the feature. The feature has been under development for some years, and leaks about it have been widely circulated on the internet in recent months. Continue reading for more information on Zuckerberg’s statement and how the feature will operate for WhatsApp users.
“Reactions of WhatsApp start rolling out today.”
– Mark Zuckerberg
While the feature was not yet available on an Android smartphone running the latest WhatsApp version, it is expected to be available to all users within the next few days. Given that WhatsApp has over two billion users worldwide, it is common for Message Reactions to take a few days before they are publicly viewable.
WhatsApp launched the Reactions and Communities features last month. WhatsApp officially announced, “emoji reactions are coming to WhatsApp so people can quickly share their opinion without flooding chats with new messages.” Users can skip composing brief messages in response to something sent by another user now that the feature has been officially launched. Instead, they might make use of the WhatsApp reactions.
It’s worth noting that message reactions are already accessible on other instant messaging networks, such as Telegram and WhatsApp’s sister platform, Instagram. Users on both platforms can respond by simply tapping twice on a message. On Telegram, reactions are set to thumbs up by default, and on Instagram, they are set to heart emoji. WhatsApp will offer six reactions, as indicated by Zuckerberg: thumbs up, heart, smiling face, astonished face, sorrowful face, and linked hands.
Furthermore, WhatsApp is developing a new feature that will allow users to respond to the statuses of other users. For the uninitiated, WhatsApp Status is similar to Instagram Story in that it can be read by anyone who has saved the user’s contact number and viewers can respond by sending text messages. However, there is currently no possibility to send a quick reaction to WhatsApp Status.
