WhatsApp officially confirms a load of new features

WhatsApp users – all two billion of them – are about to receive a load of new features in the messenger app to play with.

The Facebook owned messaging service detailed the update in a blog post this week.

Alongside new animated stickers, the app will also now allow users to add contacts by scanning a QR code and use dark mode on the desktop version of WhatsApp.

The service has also been focusing heavily on improving its video calling options in the wake of the coronavirus crisis and the meteoric rise of rival Zoom across the world.

You can have up to eight people in an encrypted WhatsApp video call and this latest update lets you press and hold on a particular person’s video to maximise them to full screen. It’s the same as switching between gallery view and speaker view on Zoom.

There’s also a new video icon that appears in group chats of eight people or less that lets you start a video chat in one tap.

According to WhatsApp, these features ‘are rolling out to users over the next few weeks’. In order to make sure you get them, you’ll need to check that your phone is updated with the latest versions of WhatsApp.