ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

WhatsApp is introducing 4 new features in 2020

WhatsApp limits users to 5 text forwards to curb fake news
  • Popular messaging app WhatsApp is set to release some interesting features in the new year.
  • The long-awaited dark mode feature is one of them.
  • Below are the remaining features you can expect from WhatsApp in 2020.

Here is a list of the four new features coming to WhatsApp in 2020:

  • Dark Mode

According to Independent.co.uk, the Facebook-owned messaging app has been teasing the dark theme for months.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, WaBetaInfo, a website that follows developments with the beta version of the app, has reported that the dark theme update is ready for the Android version of WhatsApp.

  • Disappearing Messages

This feature allows users to automatically delete messages after a stipulated period in both group chats and one-on-one conversations.

With this, The Guardian reports that users will be able to set the messages to be deleted automatically after an hour, a day, a week, a month or a year.

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Ads

The platform plans to start inserting promos into WhatsApp Status posts from 2020. This was reportedly revealed at the 2019 Facebook Marketing Summit in the Netherlands.

WaBetaInfo describes the ads as "status advertisements" adding that "they won't be invasive and they will appear very rarely between a lot of status updates. "

This feature is currently available on WhatsApp's sister app Instagram.

ADVERTISEMENT
  • Reverse Image Search

As the most popular messaging app across Africa, Whatsapp has been flagged as a major medium of choice for spreading fake news.

A recent report by the Center for Democracy and Development and the University of Birmingham on WhatsApp’s role during Nigeria’s February elections showed that parents and grandparents as the “biggest sharers” of misinformation.

ADVERTISEMENT

The platform plans to fight the spread of fake news with a new feature called the reverse image search tool. This lets you figure out the original sender of any image.

WhatsApp's previous attempts to tackle fake news includes letting users identify forwarded messages and limiting users to five text forwards.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT