WhatsApp Channels was introduced to the masses in thelatter half of 2023as a broadcasting tool for brands, celebrities, and public figures. While it’s not a new concept, Channels' arrival on one of themost popular messaging appsin the world meant that millions could now get direct updates from their favorite people/organizations. Behind the scenes, WhatsApp developers have been working on some new functionalities for Channels,like pollsandsending voice messages, among others. The chat app is now widely rolling out these features (and more) to users across the globe.
According to achannel postby Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (viaWABetaInfo), WhatsApp Channels is picking up a total of four new features. The first of them is voice notes or audio messages. We’ve known that this feature has been in development since at least October last year with version2.23.23.2of WhatsApp beta for Android.
While channel admins could always send text messages and media to their followers, the addition of voice notes unlocks a new way of interacting with audiences. We have a decent understanding of what some of these inclusions would look like thanks to our previous coverage of WhatsApp beta updates.
Voice notes within Channels on WhatsApp beta (left); Polling functionality in beta (right)
The next feature addition is polls, enabling channel admins to quickly gauge the mood of their base. This attribute has been a staple of WhatsApp group chats for quite a while now, so it’s only logical for it to be extended to Channels as well. However, we’re surprised it has taken this long for it to become part of the feature set. Based on the poll shared by Zuckerberg (pictured below), participants will be able to select multiple options at once.
Zuckerberg also talks about channel owners finally being able to set multiple admins. This will be a godsend for large corporations and brands that need to stay in touch with their customers around the clock. Lastly, the Facebook co-founder also talked about how people can add channel posts to their Status. We’ve seen this particular feature in action through abeta version released in December, wherein developers were adding more context to Status updates pulled from a channel update.
