WhatsApp announces important changes for groups: Reactions, File Sharing, more

WhatsApp announced important new features coming to its apps in the coming weeks, all part of a new hub called Communities that will eventually be added to the service. Given lots of feedback it received over the years, WhatsApp has decided to make communication for organizations like schools, local clubs, and non-profit organizations easier.

Communities will allow WhatsApp users to bring together separate groups in a single place. As a result, users will be able to receive updates sent to the entire Community and organize smaller discussion groups on important topics. Of course, Communities will have all the required tools for admins, including announcement messages and control over groups.

In addition to bringing Communities to WhatsApp, the company also announced it will roll out improvements to how groups work on the app, regardless of whether or not they are part of a Community hub. Here are the features that will be released in the coming weeks to all WhatsApp users:

• Reactions – Emoji reactions are coming to WhatsApp so people can quickly share their opinion without flooding chats with new messages.
• Admin Delete – Group admins will be able to remove errant or problematic messages from everyone’s chats.
• File Sharing – We’re increasing file sharing to support files up to 2 gigabytes so people can easily collaborate on projects.
• Larger Voice Calls – We’ll introduce one-tap voice calling for up to 32 people with an new design for those times when talking live is better than chatting.

Another important aspect worth mentioning is that since all Community hubs will be private, messages will be protected with end-to-end encryption. According to WhatsApp, Communities will be the company’s main focus for the year to come, so expect more announcements in that regard.