WhatsApp may be the most popular messaging app in the world, but from now on it will no longer be just an ‘App’ for keeping in touch with friends and family.
The Meta, the company that owns the app, announced the addition of another feature: WhatsApp channels, which allow you to follow and receive updates from a variety of content creators and businesses. The first channels created include the World Health Organization and the football clubs Manchester City and Barcelona, but anyone will eventually be able to create a channel.
However, WhatsApp Channels are only for broadcasting updates – there is no way to react or respond directly.
All the channels you follow will be displayed in a new section of the app, called ‘Updates’, just below the existing Status feature. However, the latter will remain exclusive to friends and family. Channel updates, which can be in the form of text, photo, video, or audio, will remain visible for 30 days.
The channel owner will not have access to the phone numbers of their followers and vice versa. The channel creator will only know how many people are in their channel. They will also not be able to invite or include someone in the channel, as is the case in groups.
Meta described this new feature as “a private way to follow what matters.” “Following a channel will keep your phone number hidden from the admin or other followers, while the profile picture and name of the admins will not be shared with followers,” the company emphasized.
Admins will be able to decide if they want their channel to be searchable and can prevent certain people from following it. Unlike regular messages, channel updates will not be end-to-end encrypted by default. But WhatsApp does not rule out adding this option in the future.
WhatsApp is already used by many businesses around the world, with a dedicated app just for business – WhatsApp Business – launched in 2018. Adding the ability to broadcast messages to users seems like a logical next step.
WhatsApp Channels will initially be available in Colombia and Singapore, before arriving in other countries “in the coming months.” However, it is still unclear exactly when the feature will be launched in Europe and North America.
Source: Techadvisor.com