WhatsApp launches Communities feature that lets you message several group chats at once
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A group for groups? WhatsApp launches Communities feature that lets you place several group chats TOGETHER and message them all at the same time
- Communities was announced back in April and is now being rolled out globally
- Users can place several group chats together under a ‘Community’
- They can then share updates with these groups together at the same time
Whether it’s in your neighbourhood or at your child’s school, there are often situations when it would be useful to message several groups at once.
Now, WhatsApp has launched a new tool called Communities, which essentially lets you do just that.
Users will be able to place several group chats together under one topic and share updates with them all.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, said: ‘Today we’re launching Communities on WhatsApp.
‘It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more.’
WhatsApp has launched a new tool called Communities that allows you to place several group chats together under one topic and share updates with them all
Communities was first announced back in April, but is now being rolled out globally.
A new Communities tab will appear at the top of chats on Android and at the bottom for those using the iOS version.
After tapping on this tab, you can start a new ‘Community’ from scratch, or add exisiting groups.
In a blog post announcing the new tool, WhatsApp explained: ‘Once you’re in a community, you can easily switch between available groups to get the information you need, when you need it, and admins can send important updates to everyone in the Community.’
WhatsApp hopes the tool will offer users a way to communicate with multiple groups ‘with a level of privacy and security not found anywhere else.’
‘The alternatives available today require trusting apps or software companies with a copy of their messages – and we think they deserve the higher level of security provided by end-to-end encryption,’ it added.
Communities isn’t the only new feature announced today – WhatsApp is also adding several other new features.
Rather than spamming everyone in a group chat, users will now be able to create in-chat polls, as a ‘fun and effective way to decisions in a group.’
Communities isn’t the only new feature announced today – WhatsApp is also adding several other new features
Video calls will be expanded to up to 32 people, while groups can now include up to 1,024 users.
Group admins will have the power to remove ‘errant or problematic messages’ from everyone’s chats.
And emoji reactions are coming to WhatsApp so people can quickly share their opinion without flooding chats with new messages.
‘We’ve been working with over 50 organizations in 15 countries to build Communities to meet their needs,’ WhatsApp added.
‘We’re excited that the feedback we’ve heard so far is these new tools are helping groups like these better organize and achieve their goals.
‘There’s a lot more we plan to build and we’ll keep adding features over the coming months.
‘For now, we’re excited to get this into more people’s hands and hear your feedback too.’