Johannesburg - The world’s most popular instant messaging app, WhatsApp, is expected to soon breathe life into its emoji functionality in an upcoming update.
According to the latest speculation by independent WhatsApp reporting blog WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is making use of a new graphic file type to animate its emojis.
“WhatsApp is finally working on introducing animated emojis in order to improve the user messaging experience. Animated emojis are designed by using Lottie, a library that allows designers to create animations,” WABetaInfo reported.
Lottie file types use JSON, a kind of coding to create animation file formats that allow transferring animations on any platform in small file sizes that work on any device without losing quality.
Additionally, WABetaInfo reported that WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.7.82 was released on Apple’s App Store for iPhones and iPads, and it brings the sticker maker tool to more users.
“Thanks to this feature, users can now create their own stickers using photo cutouts from the photos app,” WABetaInfo said.
While animated emojis mark the highlight of speculative features likely to make their way to WhatsApp, other anticipated features include:
– A new media picker feature is coming to the iOS beta app through a new toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
– A redesigned screen lock view for all users on all operating systems.
– The ability to add a description after removing a caption to a forwarded media.
– A new tool for broadcasting information and channels on iOS.
– The ability to keep messages from disappearing is rolling out to users to help keep track of important messages.
– A redesigned keyboard in order to offer a better user-friendly experience with a clearer interface.
Prior to the discovery of the new features expected for the platform, WhatsApp is also expected to implement a new feature to allow users the ability to “lock” their chats.
The Lock Chats feature will be rolled out to all WhatsApp users after some beta testers discovered the function would allow users to lock specific chats using their fingerprint or passcode.
Once locked, it can only be accessed using the user’s fingerprint or passcode, making it nearly impossible for anyone else to open the chat.
It is also expected that the new feature will easily hide chats from the regular WhatsApp home screen, making them only accessible by unlocking the device.
* If any of the new features mentioned above are yet to be available for you, it probably has yet to be rolled out for your device. It should be visible to all users within the coming weeks after the latest update.
IOL Tech