WhatsApp Is Adding Notifications For Reactions, Along With The Ability To Make Video Calls From The Status Update Screen

WhatsApp’s latest beta is finally incorporating reaction notifications, and is adding a new video call shortcut to the status update interface.

The first of these two features we’ll be discussing is one that has actually been covered by us before. WhatsApp had rather unwittingly added the feature in a previous beta, thus allowing users to try it out before the actual beta (might as well call it alpha testing at this point). The feature has nothing particularly remarkable to comment on. Once turned on, if someone reacts to your messages on WhatsApp, the app will send you a notification, stating the person’s name. Much like the reaction notifications on Instagram or Facebook, the reaction itself will not be specified, and must be looked up by the user themselves.


The other feature we have on hand is related to video calls. Video calls are honestly one of WhatsApp’s best features. We’ve come a long way from Skype, and while calls aren’t as optimized as they are on other platforms such as Zoom and FaceTime, WhatsApp’s video calling feature is used regularly across the world and is a major reason for the platform being as popular as it is today. It’s a major reason that families across the world manage to stay in touch with each other. Which, as a matter of fact, is a pretty good transition towards the shortcut we’ll be discussing.


It often slips one’s mind to call a certain someone to keep up with them. Be it grandparents, some other vague relative that asked you to do so despite them being perfectly capable of making the call themselves, or friends, life is often very overwhelming and people forget to keep in touch. Oftentimes, the way that someone remembers to call is by going through WhatsApp’s status updates, seeing something posted by the relevant person in mind, then thinking to call them. And that’s what the new feature does. Now, users can directly tap on the upper right hand corner of one’s status update screen (when displaying a user’s content), and video call from there. It’s not a very big feature, and is at best a minor convenience, but it’s still a nice quality of life update that helps WhatsApp continue to remain relevant amongst its userbase.

H/T: WABI / Blog.

Read next: WhatsApp Is Rolling Out Business Profile UI For All Accounts, And Is Also Including New Contact Notifications For Business Profiles
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