Newsletter
WhatsApp Channels are now available to everyone around the world. The company has announced that the new broadcasting feature is rolling out to users in over 150 countries. It has been testing the feature amongst a small group of users for the past few months.
Channels on WhatsApp work the same way as in Telegram, which has had the feature for a long time now. You can follow brands, organizations, sports teams, creators, and other influential people or groups on the app to receive updates from them. They can broadcast their new creations, the latest news, and other information to their followers through the channels. Instagram added a similar feature earlier this year.
WhatsApp shows your followed channels under the Updates tab, which replaces Status in the bottom navigation bar. Statuses appear in a horizontal bar at the top, with channels listed vertically under them. At the bottom, you’ll find another horizontal carousel of recommended channels. You can follow channels directly from there or tap the “See all” button to find more or manually search a channel. Despite this massive overhaul of the Status tab, the floating pen and camera buttons aren’t going anywhere.
WhatsApp Channels are getting some new features as well
Along with a wider rollout, WhatsApp has also added new features to Channels. An enhanced directory now lets you find channels that may be more relevant to you. The app now recommends you a list of channels that are filtered based on your country. You can also manually select a country to find popular channels from that country. Additionally, WhatsApp lets you filter the lists based on popularity, activity, and more.
WhatsApp added reactions to Channels in the beta version of the app in July. The feature is now available to everyone. You can see a count of total reactions in a broadcasted message. However, other followers cannot see your reaction. WhatsApp lets you forward messages from channels to other people and groups in the messaging app. Forwarded messages will include a link back to the channel.
Additionally, WhatsApp plans to add an edit feature to channels. Admins can edit messages for up to 30 days after sending them, the company says. Messages are automatically deleted from WhatsApp servers after that. Other planned features include the ability to create a channel for everyone. “This is just the beginning, and we’ll continue to add more features and expand Channels based on feedback we get from users,” WhatsApp said in a press release.
