Whatsapp has been rolling out a number of features to make its app more user friendly. Last month saw Stickers coming to the messenger and it was reported that the company is also working on a vacation mode. And according to WABetaInfo, a Twitter account that tracks WhatsApp updates in the Beta version of the app, has said that the company has rolled out a new feature called Private Reply.
Currently available only in the Beta version of the app, the new feature lets users privately send messages to a participant in a group and other members of the same group don’t get to know about it. The feature can be found in WhatsApp’s Android app for Beta version 2.18.355.
It has been reported that the company had inadvertently rolled out the feature in December in a beta update for Windows Phone. Back then, there were speculations about the feature launching soon. However, after December, we have only spotted the Private Reply feature now.
We tried using the feature and we feel that it will be useful. Suppose your friend says something in a group and you want to send a reply that only they can read. Till now, you would have to open their personal chat and then type your message to them. But with the Private Reply feature, you only need to long press on their message, then press the three-dot icon on top right and select the option ‘Private Reply’. On pressing the option, the selected message will open in chat window of the sender. However, you would be able to send your message as a reply to what they said on the group, so their message will be visible too.
But even if you are a Beta tester do think that the feature is a useful one, you should probably not download the latest update because according to WABetaInfo, the app crashes when the user tries deleting media files from a group.
When we tried doing it, our app didn’t crash, so maybe it is a problem that is not being faced by all.
If you do wish to become a WhatsApp Beta tester to get its latest features and don’t know how you can, you only need to head to the Google Play Store, search for WhatsApp Messenger, scroll down past similar apps till you reach a panel that says ‘Become a Beta tester.’ Press on ‘I’m in’ and when it asks you to confirm, select ‘Join’.
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