The staff of BetaInfo was discussing with Will Cathcart, CEO of WhatsApp (on WhatsApp, of course), about future features of the app, such as long awaited multi-device, when Mark Zuckerberg (in person!) joined the conversation. The Facebook owner confirmed several of the new features, including the self-destructing content feature.
Playback / WABetaInfo
Zuckerberg was added to the chat by Cathcart, who said more precisely, “let me add someone to this chat who can talk more about some of the features.” According to what was discussed and confirmed by the illustrious Facebook CEO, WhatsApp Beta users will have three features at their disposal. In short, they are: disappearing mode, the view once function, and the multi-device feature.
Disappearance mode is a way for the user to configure the privacy of the app a function that, when a new chat is started, automatically activates messages that disappear in new conversations. View once, as the name suggests, is so that the recipient can see messages and open photos and videos that they have received only once, before the content disappears from the chat.
Playback / WABetaInfo
Multi-device has been a major technical challenge for WhatsApp
Finally, WhatsApp's multi-device support has been confirmed, with a focus on allowing users to switch between devices and platforms without the frustration of losing their chat logs and messages. Zuckerberg confessed that “it’s been a huge technical challenge to get all the messages and content to sync,” but said the feature will be rolled out soon.
The new features were confirmed by Cathcart and will be available to Beta users of the app in two months. In addition, the CEO confirmed that WhatsApp on the iPad will be compatible with multiple devices and that the possibility of opening the Beta version to a few more iOS users will be considered soon. Cathcart also said that users will be able to connect up to four linked devices using the multi-device functionality, confirming several expectations regarding the change.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. 9to5Google
Image: Anthony Quintano/Wikimedia Commons/CC