WhatsApp is found to be working on an option to let users export their chat backups stored on Google Drive. The update would allow users to have their chat stored offline. The change has been reported to be in the works for Android users at this moment. Separately, WhatsApp has been spotted testing the ability to let its business users view the information of the device from where a message has been sent through their accounts. This will be useful for businesses given that they have multi-device support on WhatsApp — just like regular users.
According to a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, the instant messaging app is working on the option to let users export their chat backups from Google Drive to the local storage of their devices. The backup is said to have full chat history, including messages, images, videos, and other media files.
WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to give us a glimpse of the feature that is yet to be available even to beta testers. The screenshot shows that users would get an Export backup option in the Chat backup settings to let them move their backups from Google Drive.
WhatsApp is spotted working on an ‘Export backup’ option for Android users Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
It is reported by the source that in addition to allowing users to export chat backups, WhatsApp would introduce an option to import backups on Google Drive.
Earlier this year, WABetaInfo reported that WhatsApp backups on Google Drive would get limited storage allocation. The new discovery in that scenario would allow users to import their chat backups if they reach the particular threshold on Google Drive and store their backed-up data offline on their device. Users may also be able to upload their chat backups back to Google Drive when they have adequate space available.
Exact details on when WhatsApp would enable the option to export backups from Google Drive are yet to be revealed. It is also unclear whether WhatsApp would prefer allowing iOS users to export their backups stored on iCloud in a similar fashion.
In addition to the export backups option, WhatsApp has started testing the ability for its business users to let them view device information about their outgoing messages if there are other linked devices accessing the same account.
WABetaInfo reports that the change has been rolled out through WhatsApp Business for Android beta version 2.22.13.10 and WhatsApp Business for iOS beta version 22.12.0.73. It is also said to be in testing for businesses accessing the app using a desktop.
A couple of screenshots shared by WABetaInfo show that users will be able to see the name of the linked device from where the message was sent in the chats thread.
WhatsApp is testing an ability to let business users see from where they’ve sent a message Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
In the case of iOS, the screenshot suggests that users would see the word ‘Admin’ alongside the name of the device to indicate that the message was sent by a particular device.
The change is useful for businesses who are using the same account on multiple devices. It would allow them to track the device used for sending a particular message.
WhatsApp has released its 11th user safety monthly report, which shows that the company has actioned some accounts in India through its prevention and detection methods for violating the laws of India or WhatsApp’s Terms of Service. In accordance with the IT Rules 2021, WhatsApp has taken action in response to grievances received from users in India via the grievance mechanisms of WhatsApp and has banned over 1.66 million accounts in the month of April 2022. The company released April’s safety report on June 1, 2022.
WhatsApp’s India Monthly report under the Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, shows the information for the period from April 1 to April 30, 2022. The report shows that a total of 844 grievances were sent by users out of which 90 were related to accounting support, 670 were related to banning appeals, 34 were related to product support, 13 were related to safety, and the rest of the 37 were related to other support. Out of these, only 123 requests were actioned, all of which belonged to the ban appeal category, except for the 1 belonging to the other support grievance. It is important to note that taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result of the user complaint. Users can send grievances to WhatsApp, on grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com or send a letter to the India Grievance Officer via post. WhatsApp also has its own tools and resources deployed to stop abuse and other harmful activity.
Commenting on the latest report, a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “we are an industry leader among end-to-end encrypted messaging services in preventing and combating abuse. In addition to our safety features and controls, we employ a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts. We enable users to block contacts and to report problematic content and contacts to us from inside the app. We pay close attention to user feedback and engage with specialists in stemming misinformation, promoting cybersecurity, and preserving election integrity.”
On the other hand, WhatsApp mentioned that it banned over 1.85 million accounts in March, in its previous monthly report released on May 1.
WhatsApp is found to be working on a status reply indicator that users will see when they receive replies to their status updates. The feature is said to be currently under development and not yet available even to beta testers, though it is likely to be available to users on Android and iOS as well as desktop in the future. In addition to the status reply indicator, WhatsApp has been spotted bringing the ability to set up a cover photo when using the instant messaging app on a desktop.
According to a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is developing the status reply indicator to make it easier for users to know when their contacts have responded to a recent status update. The indicator helps distinguish a status reply from general message replies directly on the Chats screen.
WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to suggest how the indicator will appear. The screenshot is said to have taken from a recent WhatsApp Desktop beta version, though the feature is expected to be available to beta testers on Android and iOS in the coming future.
WhatsApp has been spotted introducing a status reply indicator Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
Alongside the status reply indicator, WhatsApp has been spotted introducing the ability to let business users add cover photos to their company’s profile when using WhatsApp Desktop.
WABetaInfo, in a separate report, mentioned that the feature to set up cover photos has been in development on WhatsApp for Desktop beta. The feature would allow businesses to have a custom cover photo — just like how Facebook lets users have a different cover on their profiles and pages on the platform.
WhatsApp is found to have an option to set up a cover photo in place for business users on desktop Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
In February, WhatsApp was spotted working on the ability to let businesses add cover photos using WhatsApp Business for iOS. It was launched for some beta testers in April. The feature is also expected to be available to users on WhatsApp Business for Android in the future.
WhatsApp Premium, a subscription-based model, is being tested for WhatsApp Business, a report has said. Under this model, business accounts may choose to pay a certain sum for various features and capabilities. Reportedly, WhatsApp Business profile owners can also opt out of WhatsApp Premium and continue using the current version. The first mention of a subscription plan was in April when it was reported that the feature will allow businesses to link up to 10 devices after they subscribe to a plan.
The development has been reported by WABetainfo, and the platform says that WhatsApp Premium is being tested for Android, Desktop as well as iOS. The platform says that the feature is exclusively for business accounts and is optional. Details of the subscription plans are not known yet, but it is expected that subscribing to the feature will allow WhatsApp Business profiles to get additional features.
WABetainfo says that one of the features that WhatsApp Premium could offer users is the ability to link and name up to 10 devices. Normally users can link up to four devices when using multi-device. In addition, WhatsApp may also allow businesses to create a unique custom business link. It is to be noted that businesses can already use short links allowing customers to contact them. A custom link is expected to have the same purpose as a short link but a custom link may be easy to remember and also provide branding.
Recently it was reported that WhatsApp was testing chat filters – currently only available on WhatsApp Business – for all users, providing an easy way to find certain chats. WhatsApp has also started identifying “legal” names of users who have enabled the UPI-based payments feature on its app. WhatsApp is also working on an improvement to user profiles that could allow users to set a cover image on their WhatsApp Business profiles, a report said.
WhatsApp has been found to be testing the ability to show Status updates directly from the Chats list. The new addition is likely to give a boost to the Status feature on the instant messaging app as users will be able to quickly look at the statuses of their contacts. Additionally, WhatsApp has been spotted working on a feature to let users create group polls on the desktop. It would let group members vote for a specific option and look at the total number of votes received.
As per a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, the instant messaging app owned by Facebook parent Meta is currently testing the ability to show Status updates to users directly from their Chats list or when they search for any of their contacts within the app. Status updates will appear when the user taps the profile picture of their contact, according to the source. This sounds similar to how you can currently look at the Stories posted by the accounts you follow on Meta’s Instagram.
WhatsApp has the Status feature in place to offer Instagram Stories-like interactive experience to users since February 2017. Since its arrival, the feature has been accessible through the dedicated Status tab on the app. WhatsApp, however, seems to be expanding the reach of the feature and allows users to showcase their Status updates more prominently by bringing them to the Chats list.
WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to give us an idea of how Status updates would appear directly through the Chats list. It has been taken from a future build of WhatsApp Desktop, though the same feature is said to be available to users on WhatsApp for Android and iOS releases. It is also likely to soon appear on a beta release of WhatsApp’s mobile clients.
WhatsApp has been spotted testing its expanded Status updates feature Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
WhatsApp’s Status feature was also recently spotted getting quick reactions to let users express their views about Status updates of their contacts using eight distinct emojis.
Alongside the ability to view status updates from the Chats list, WhatsApp has released its new Desktop beta (version 2.2216.2) that carries references to let users create group polls, according to WABetaInfo. Group members would be able to vote their option and see the total number of votes received in a poll. However, users are not likely to see who voted for a specific option.
WhatsApp is apparently working on bringing group polls to desktop users Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
Exact details on when WhatsApp will introduce its group polls feature for public use are yet to be revealed. Considering its historical records, it may take some time to bring the feature to the users and would first prefer its testing among beta testers.
Separately, WhatsApp for Android beta 2.22.10.14 includes references about a new footer to highlight personal messages on the app are end-to-end encrypted, WABetaInfo reports. WhatsApp for Android beta 2.22.8.7 released in March was spotted including the same footnote at the bottom of the call history section — indicating users that calls on the app are end-to-end encrypted.
WhatsApp has a new footer in testing that has been spotted on Android but may come across platforms Photo Credit: WABetaInfo
WhatsApp may bring the footer to promote its end-to-end encryption across other sections on its app in the future. This would help Meta convince users about the security of their messages.
WhatsApp unveiled multi-device support for Android and iOS users last month. This allows people to use their WhatsApp accounts on up to four devices and one phone simultaneously without an active internet connection. Now, the Meta owned instant messaging platform is reportedly working on a new feature that will allow users to add a secondary device as a companion for their primary phone with WhatsApp on it. With this, users can link their WhatsApp account to use it on another phone. This feature was reportedly spotted on the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.10.13 update.
As per a report by WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo, the messaging service is expanding its multi-device support to secondary smartphones and tablets. The functionality will allow users to operate a single WhatsApp account on multiple devices. As mentioned, the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.10.13 update includes the reference for the second version of the multi-device feature. The report includes a screenshot that shows up the interface while opening WhatsApp on a secondary mobile device. The screenshot includes a “Register Device as Companion” section, giving users an idea of what the feature might look like when it goes live.
Users may need to scan the QR code with the primary WhatsApp device to complete the linking of the messaging service to a secondary device or an Android tablet. However, the report also mentioned that this feature is under development. The feature may get updated before the final release.
Last month, WhatsApp announced multi-device support for all users. This allows both Android and iOS users to open their WhatsApp accounts on different devices to send and receive messages on the app simultaneously, even when their phones don’t have active Internet access. Users are not required to keep their phones connected to the Internet to access this functionality. However, the linked devices will get disconnected if the phone remains inactive for more than 14 days.
TikTok has surpassed Instagram and become the world’s top downloaded app in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report by app market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The short-video app, which is banned in India, managed to continue to be one of the top-five top downloaded apps worldwide. However, Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — retained its dominance in the app market globally, with Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp as the three top downloaded apps worldwide after TikTok.
Sensor Tower reports that no app has had more downloads than TikTok since the start of 2018. Since the beginning of 2022, the app has been downloaded more than 175 million times, according to the report.
TikTok was the top app worldwide in Q1 2022 Photo Credit: Sensor Tower
TikTok surpassed 70 million downloads on the App Store worldwide for the third time in the first quarter. It was driven by 11 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in Asia. CapCut, a video editing app from TikTok’s publisher ByteDance, also had the last quarter as its best to date with more than 30 million downloads. It has ranked among the top 10 App Store apps each of the past five quarters, Sensor Tower said in its 75-page report.
Alongside the worldwide growth, TikTok has emerged as the top downloaded app on both the App Store and Google Play in the US and on Google Play in Europe. The ban in India also didn’t impact much in Asia as TikTok continued to be the top-downloaded app on the App Store in the region. It also moved to the third top downloaded app position on Google Play from the fourth one in the quarter earlier.
However, on Google Play worldwide, Instagram and Facebook managed to continue to fight TikTok and retain their leadership on the top-two positions.
In addition to TikTok, YouTube emerged as one of the top-two apps on the US App Store each quarter since the first quarter of 2021, per the report.
Sensor Tower said that while TikTok has surpassed 10 million downloads each of the past nine quarters, YouTube has overtaken this threshold for eight straight quarters.
But nonetheless, TikTok continued to gain momentum in the US. Sensor Tower noted that it was the top app on Google Play for the third straight quarter, with installs up 19 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
The ongoing trend of connecting people over virtual calls — despite the revival of physical meetings — has apparently helped Zoom to grow in the market in which entertainment-focussed apps including TikTok and Facebook parent Meta are writing new growth stories.
Sensor Tower said that Zoom had positive quarter-on-quarter growth for the first time in a year by reaching the number six position on Google Play in the US with more than three million downloads. It was the top app on Google Play as recently as the first quarter of 2021, the report said.
Apps including Telegram and WhatsApp have a tough fight in Europe. While WhatsApp managed to take the second position in the list of top downloaded apps in the continent, Telegram also had its second-best quarter in the region in the first quarter of 2022, trailing the nearly 28 million installs it had in the same quarter of 2021, according to Sensor Tower.
WhatsApp was also the top app particularly on the App Store in Europe for the seventh straight quarter in the first quarter. Sensor Tower said that it was also WhatsApp’s best first quarter of the year since 2018.
In Asia, Instagram continued to come as the top app for the third straight quarter in the first quarter, followed by Facebook. Instagram was also the top app in India where it accounted for more than 60 percent of Instagram’s installs in the country, Sensor Tower said.
Instagram was also the top app on Google Play in Asia — ahead of Facebook and Shopee. Sensor Tower noted that the photo-sharing app accounted for 29 percent of Meta’s Google Play installs in Asia in the first quarter, up from 26 percent in the same quarter last year and 18 percent in the same quarter of 2020.
Shopping apps are also seen getting bigger in Asia — at least on Google Play. Sensor Tower said that shopping app installs on Google Play in Asia grew 63 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Top apps include Shopee, Meesho, and Flipkart’s Shopsy.
On the App Store, Subway Surfers, Wordle, and Coloring Match were the top-three games worldwide in the last quarter. Garena Free Fire, Subway Surfers, and Merge Master were, however, the top-three games worldwide on Google Play.
Wordle — which is named after New York Times’ word game Wordle — was also the top game in the US, with more than nine million downloads. It was also the top game on the App Store in the country and had the top US App Store downloads since Among Us in the fourth quarter of 2020. Wordus and Word Guess were the other two games with Wordle-style gameplay that ranked among the top 20 games in the country, the report mentioned.
However, Sensor Tower said Roblox managed to continue ranking among the top-five games each quarter since the fourth quarter of 2020. In Asia, the list of top-three games in the first quarter was the same as the previous quarter, with Garena Fire Fire leading the chart, followed by Ludo King and Subway Surfers.
“Garena Free Fire and Ludo King have been in a tight race since the start of 2019, with Garena Free Fire’s 468 million installs edging Ludo King’s 461 million since that time,” Sensor Tower said.
PUBG Mobile also returned to the top-five list in Asia in the last quarter. It took the top spot on the App Store in the continent, with 37 percent quarter-on-quarter growth. However, Garena Free Fire emerged as the top game on Google Play in Asia. Garena Free Fire Max also managed to get more than 60 percent of its Google Play downloads in Asia in the last quarter, whereas the original title took the other 39 percent, the report shows.
In terms of demographics, India has continued to be the largest market for app downloads in the world in the first quarter. It was followed by the US, Brazil, and Indonesia, per the report.
India continued to lead in the top app markets worldwide in Q1 2022 Photo Credit: Sensor Tower
Sensor Tower also noted that Meta emerged as the top publisher across the globe for the first time since the first quarter of 2020. Google and ByteDance were, though, the two other top publishers in the app market globally.
Overall, worldwide downloads of apps grew 1.4 percent in the first quarter to 36.9 billion from the 36.4 billion downloads reported for the first quarter last year. Downloads from the App Store globally increased to 8.6 billion from 8.4 billion last year, while Google Play downloads reached 28.3 billion from 28 billion, Sensor Tower’s report shows.
The report is based on App Store and Google Play download estimates between January 1 and March 31. Download estimates are on a per-user basis and don’t count re-installs and updates of the same app by the same user. Also, Android app download estimates represent downloads from Google Play only and don’t consider download estimates from third-party Android stores.
WhatsApp on Thursday announced Communities as a new feature to help users have multiple groups together under one roof. The announcement comes months after the feature was spotted in testing on the Web. Communities on WhatsApp will enable admins with new tools, including the ability to send a single message to everyone and control over which groups can be included in a particular community. In addition to the Communities feature, WhatsApp introduced a list of updates, including increased file sharing limit, reactions, and the ability to enable group audio calls for up to 32 people simultaneously.
For the last few months, WhatsApp has apparently been testing the Communities feature. It will enable users to have separate groups under one roof to let them receive updates from these groups from a single screen — without scrolling through different chats. This will be helpful especially in case of schools, local clubs, or non-profit organisations that need to deal with multiple groups on the app.
Users in a Community will be able to look at its description and all the groups that are a part of it. However, it will not allow users of a particular group to see the phone numbers of people available in other groups. They will, though, see the numbers of the members available in their groups. Admins will also, of course, be able to see the phone numbers of all group members.
Additionally, users of one group will not be able to see the conversations taking place in other groups, though they will have the option in place to join other groups in their Community.
Admins will also have new tools to better manage group discussions in their Communities. One of the tools will be the announcement messages that admins will be able to send to everyone. Group admins will also have the control over which groups can be included in their Communities.
“We think Communities will make it easier for a school principal to bring all the parents of the school together to share must-read updates and set up groups about specific classes, extracurricular activities, or volunteer needs,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.
The prime purpose of Communities seems to enable people to easily organise smaller discussion groups on the platform that could make WhatsApp an even useful solution for group discussions. It would also help make important groups different from any of their random family groups where they mostly get just “Good morning” messages or some casual stuff.
Users in Communities will have the options to report abuse, block, accounts and leave any of them — similar to how they are open to do all such things in regular groups. WhatsApp also promised to continue to protect messages in Communities with its end-to-end encryption.
The feature will protect user privacy by hiding phone numbers from the Community at large. There will also be “sensible limits on size, discoverability, and forwarding”, WhatsApp noted in a detailed document about the Communities feature.
“We will rely on all available unencrypted information including the Community name, description, and user reports to take action against abuse in Communities,” the company said.
There is no concrete timeline on when Communities will be available to users around the globe. However, WhatsApp told Gadgets 360 that it would be testing the feature over the next few months in a few countries and once those tests have been completed, it would begin to roll it out globally.
In addition to Communities, groups on WhatsApp are getting emoji reactions to help people share their opinion about particular messages without flooding chats with new text inputs. This works similar to how you can add reactions to messages on Facebook’s Messenger or Apple’s iMessage.
WhatsApp is enhancing user experience with features including emoji reactions Photo Credit: WhatsApp
Emoji reactions will be available in both individual chats and groups, WhatsApp confirmed to Gadgets 360.
Separately, group admins will be able to remove errant or problematic messages from everyone’s chats. WhatsApp is also introducing one-tap voice calling for up to 32 people with an all-new design. Currently, it allows up to eight participants in a group voice call.
WhatsApp is bringing a new design for group audio calls Photo Credit: WhatsApp
WhatsApp competitor Telegram, however, doesn’t have any limit for group voice chats. It also last year enabled users to have as many as 1,000 viewers for its group video calls, though you can have up to 30 members simultaneously in a video call on the app.
Additionally, WhatsApp is increasing file sharing size to support files of up to 2GB. This is a significant expansion from the existing file size limit of 100MB. The increased file sharing size limit will be applicable to both individual chats and groups. It has been in testing for some time.
It is important to point out that the update will be limited to documents and will not be applicable to media files including photos, videos, and voice messages as they will still have the existing 16MB limit. Also, the increased limit is identical to the 2GB file sharing size limit available on Telegram.
WhatsApp said that all these new features will be rolling out in the coming weeks — before the arrival of Communities.
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