WhatsApp is preparing to add iMessage-style reaction capabilities to its iPhone and Android apps, judging by evidence within a recent beta.
The intrepid snoops at WABetaInfo, naturally, posted screenshots of emoji characters sitting beneath individual messages.
If the screenshots end up portraying the feature once it has launched, there’ll be six reactions available based on standard emoji. They are: Like, Love, Laugh, Surprised, Sad, and Thanks.
They’ll be accessible in a familiar way, by long pressing on a message. That’ll launch the reaction menu above the message, while the usual array of options like, reply, forward, copy, delete, etc., will sit beneath.
Once selected, the emoji will sit beneath the message, according to the screenshot posted by WABetaInfo. Unusually, there isn’t a report to accompany the tweet below, so we don’t really know how far along this feature is and when it might launch in the wild. WhatsApp is yet to confirm the feature is coming.
However, the site does point out the reactions will be end-to-end encrypted like other elements of the chats and it does appear to be operational within the beta version WABetaInfo is using.
The news comes just as it emerged Google is translating iMessage tapback ‘reactions’ into emoji on Android, thus ending the annoyance of the text-based translations that have haunted iPhone and Android owners alike within cross-platform text messages.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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