Today is the day that all WhatsApp users will start enjoying the news that the company has been accumulating for some time. Responses come stable, files up to 2GB can also be sent. And the most notable: WhatsApp launches communities, vitaminized and private groups.

It’s not that WhatsApp launches so many functions, this is strategy lies in staying rather than gaining users. With more than 2 billion people using the app every day, making radical changes is risky; therefore, the arrival of communities brings with it many challenges. These are already here.

Ends at 100MB for vitamin batches and supplements

Groups are more common in messaging apps like WhatsApp, to the dismay of those among the dozens of people who aren’t usually silent. While these groups allow to continue the conversation around different topics, they are also drifting into any area at the slightest opportunity. Communities aim to reduce these distractions.

The new communities have been posted on WhatsApp, as reported by the company itself. Once enabled for all users, end-to-end private and encrypted environments where to talk about the goals of an NGO or the pending tasks of a school. To do this, each community can create internal groups.

Community managers will be responsible for maintaining order both in the entire community and in ingroups. Also, they will be special: unlike what happens on Telegram, communities are neither indexable nor searchable. They are accessible by invitation only.

Alongside communities, WhatsApp has launched other key changes to its stable app that have been tested for months:

• WhatsApp reactions. Finally, the company activates the responses to the messages.
• deleted by admin. Admins of groups and communities will be able to delete messages as they see fit.
• Send files up to 2GB. After localized testing in Argentina, expansion of attached files up to 2GB reaches all users.
• Voice call up to 32 people. WhatsApp is increasing the number of participants in voice calls from eight to thirty-two.

WhatsApp allows communities, reactions and other news to reach all users from today, with stable application in beta. These changes will be gradually expanded.

More info | Whats up