According to the reports, the company is working on this feature for some time, and it is now entering its final stage. This message reactions feature will help users to respond to messages easily without giving any text-based reply.
iMessage-Style Message Reactions on WhatsApp
Whatsapp has been working on message reactions – or “Tapback’, which came to light last summer. Users will give a quick reply like thumbs-up or thumbs-down in iMessage. Previous reports hinted that message reactions are coming to Whatsapp, and earlier, the feature didn’t come out properly, but the latest images by WABetaInfo, give a better idea of how the feature will work. Just like Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp will show a row of emojis above the message. However, it is not clear whether it will appear after a long press or tap a new button. According to the pictures shared by WaBetaInfo, currently, there are six emojis available, thumbs up, heart, face with tears of joy, open mouth face, crying face, and hands folded. Once you select the reaction, it appears in the smaller profile below the message. Facebook Messenger has a plus button to have access to a full emoji picker, but in Whatsapp, it is not there. And it is not known whether it will be added or not. The message reactions feature will be available on both iOS and Android. Most probably, in the upcoming beta update, it might be added before rolling out publicly. It is said that the reactions feature will be end-to-end encrypted, just like messages. Apart from this, Whatsapp is bringing multiple features this year like import chat history from Android to iOS, voice call wallpaper, pause voice recording, extending the time limit of delete messages, and more.