WhatsApp’s got six BIG changes in the pipeline that will change how you text

WHATSAPP has been very busy lately working on some massive new features.

We’ve already seen some huge changes, like reactions and even bigger groups in recent months.

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But techies for the popular messaging app aren’t stopping there.

Early leaks courtesy of WABetaInfo give us an idea of what could be launching very soon – though these are so early, there’s no guarentee.

See who’s left a group

We all go through a bit of a group purge once in a while.

But you won’t be able to quietly disappear if this new feature is anything to go by.

WhatsApp is developing an option to see all of the “past participants”.

Save chats before they are deleted

The ability to delete chats changed everything on WhatsApp when it launched.

But things look like they’re moving a step further.

Developers are apparently testing a way to keep messages.

At the moment, users can choose to have messages disappear after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days, depending on your settings.

But the potential upcoming update would allow users to select specific ‘kept messages’, which would remain in the chat rather than be deleted.

Avatars for video chats

If you don’t fancy showing your face on a WhatsApp video chat, there might soon be another way.

Following an upcoming update, you’ll be able to make your own cartoon character avatars – just like the Memoji on an Apple iPhone.

These will also be usable as your face during WhatsApp video calls.

Emoji status reactions

WhatsApp recently added reaction emoji for chat messages.

But it seems the idea will be rolled out even further at some point, this time to WhatsApp statuses.

And it looks pretty similar to how it works on Instagram Stories – which isn’t a surprise considering they’re owned by the same company.

Stealth mode

One game changing idea for anyone who likes to keep their presence private could also be on the way in the future.

A sneaky “stealth mode” will allow you to use the app without being seen, by hiding your online status for pals.

Currently all you can do on WhatsApp to hide your activity is to conceal your “Last Seen” status.

Voice note waveforms

A small but useful addition is being developed for voice notes as well.

Waveforms could be added, which may not seem like a lot on the surface.

The audio waveform of the voice note will show up inside the chat bubble for a voice note.

It means you can skip forward to the exact starting point if there’s lots of empty noise at the beginning.

And the same is true for cutting off at the end.

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