15 WhatsApp upcoming features in 2023: Voice Status, Link Previews, Calling Shortcuts and more

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday announced new features coming to its status, including ‘Voice Status’, ‘Status Reactions’ and much more.

The messaging platform is also expected to add a new text editor, new fonts, and other updates to improve users' app experience.

The new features have started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement.

Let's take a detailed look at the upcoming features on WhatsApp:

Voice Status

The ‘Voice Status’ feature allows users to record and share voice messages for up to 30 seconds on WhatsApp status.

Status Reactions

On the other hand, ‘Status Reactions’ allows users to give a quick and easy way to respond to status updates from their friends and close contacts.

“This was the #1 feature users wanted, following the launch of Reactions last year. You can now quickly reply to any status by swiping up and tapping on one of eight emojis. You can of course still reply to a status with text, voice message, stickers and more,” the platform said.

Private Audience Selector

The company also introduced other features including ‘Private Audience Selector’, ‘Status Profile Rings for New Updates’ and ‘Link Previews on Status’.

With the ‘Private Audience Selector’, users can update their privacy settings per status so that they can choose who views their status each time they update it.

Moreover, the most recent audience selection will be used as the default for the users’ next status.

“With the new status profile ring you’ll never miss a status from a loved one. This ring will be present around your contact’s profile picture whenever they share a status update. It will be visible in the chat lists, group participant lists, and contact info,” the platform said.

Link Previews on Status

Now when users post a link on their status, they will see a visual preview of the link content, similar to when users send a message, thanks to the ‘Link Previews on Status’ feature.

“Status is a popular way to share ephemeral updates with friends and close contacts on WhatsApp. They disappear in 24 hours and may include photos, videos, GIFs, text, and more,” the company said.

“Just like your personal chats and calls, your WhatsApp status is protected by end-to-end encryption so you can share privately and securely,” it added.

Status Profile Rings

The platform has added Status Profile Rings for new updates, which will show around a contact's profile picture whenever they share a status update.

It will be visible in the chat lists, group participant lists and contact info, ensuring that users never miss a status update from a loved one.

Schedule calls within group chats

The messaging platform is reportedly working on a new feature which will allow users to schedule calls within their group chats. Users will be able to select a title, date and time for their call, making sure that everyone in the group is aware of when it will take place, reports WABetaInfo.

It is useful when the group is organising an event, by allowing members to schedule a call to discuss the details and confirm that everyone is available.

The ability to schedule a call within the group chats is currently under development and is expected to be released in a future update of the application, the report said.

Calling shortcuts

Meanwhile, last week, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on a new feature which will allow users to create calling shortcuts.

With the new feature, it will be possible to create a calling shortcut by just tapping the contact cell within the list of contacts. This feature will be helpful for users who frequently make calls to the same person and do not want to go through the same process again-and-again, that is, opening the application and searching for the contact every time.

Share up to 100 media

The platform is reportedly rolling out a new feature which will allow users to share up to 100 media within the chats, on Android beta.

With the new feature, beta users can now select up to 100 media in the media picker within the application, which was earlier limited to only 30, reports WABetaInfo.

This feature is useful as users will finally be able to share entire albums, making it easier to share memories and moments. Moreover, it will help users to avoid selecting the same photo or video more than once when they have to send a lot of media files.

The ability to share up to 100 media within the chats is available for some beta testers and is expected to roll out to more people over the coming days, the report said.

Longer group subjects, descriptions

It was reported that the messaging platform was rolling out longer group subjects and descriptions on Android beta.

While the characters of the group subject have been increased from 25 to 100 to provide group admins more freedom when naming their groups, the group description increased from 512 characters to 2048 characters.

Moreover, the characters of the group subject have been increased to 100 to provide admins more freedom when naming their groups.

The ability to choose a longer group subject and description is available for all users after installing the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS update from the TestFlight app, the report said.

Earlier, a report mentioned that the messaging platform was rolling out similar changes to the group subjects and descriptions on Android beta.

Pin messages in chats and groups

Meanwhile, it was reported that the platform was working on a new feature which will allow users to pin messages within chats and groups.

This feature will thereby allow users to pin important messages in any conversation to the top of the chat. If a message is pinned and the recipient is using an old version of the application, then the app will show a message in the conversation to ask to upgrade to the latest version available on the store.

Share images in original quality

Last month, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on a new feature that will allow users to send photos in their original quality.

The platform is planning to integrate a new setting icon within the drawing tool header which will allow users to configure the quality of any photo, providing them more control over the quality of photos they are sending, especially when sending the photo in its original quality is necessary.

New Fonts

The app is also said to be working on adding new fonts to the new text editor. The feature will allow users to edit the text within images, videos, and GIFs, and add text with different fonts.

New text editor

The messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working on a redesigned text editor for its drawing tool. The platform is planning to introduce three new features to improve the drawing editor, reports WABetaInfo.

React to messages in a community group

WhatsApp is said to be working on message reactions for the iOS users within the community announcement group. Currently, it is not possible to react to messages sent within the community announcement group on WhatsApp. The feature is currently under development and will be released in a future update.

New shortcuts for group admins

The new shortcuts simplify interactions with group members as now the platform supports large groups of up to 1024 participants, reports WABetainfo. The new update will help group admins to quickly manage and communicate with such a large number of participants in private.

How it works: With the new update, the phone numbers are now highlighted in group events when group participants join or leave a group and group admins can easily interact with them.

If admins tap and hold a phone number, they can use new shortcuts that include the ability to quickly call and chat with participants in private and they can also add group participants to their contacts book and copy their phone numbers.