Meta-owned WhatsApp is making it easier for users to start groups on the messaging application, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on August 23, as the company looks to strengthen its group messaging capabilities.
WhatsApp said that users will no longer need to name groups of up to six participants before starting one. It will automatically be named based on who is in a group.
This feature can come in handy when one needs to create a group in a hurry or doesn't have a specific topic in mind, it said. It will be rolling out to all WhatsApp users across the world over the next few weeks.
To ensure privacy, the group name will display differently for each participant, based on how they have saved the group participants on their smartphones, the company said in a statement.
In case the user is added to a group with people whose contact they have not saved. the user's phone number will appear with the group name, it said.
Over the past few months, WhatsApp has been adding a slew of new features to bolster its messaging application.
Earlier this month, the world's largest messaging application introduced a new screen-sharing feature that allows users to share their screens on phone or PC, during a video call. Prior to this, it introduced instant video messages that allows users to record and share short 60-second videos directly in the chat window.
WhatsApp also recently rolled out a broadcast-based messaging feature called Channels, similar to the ones you see on Instagram, and started allowing users to automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts.
In May, WhatsApp debuted a Chat Lock feature to help users password-protect specific private conversations.
The feature will allow users to lock chats that will take the conversation thread out of the inbox and put it behind its own folder that users can access with their device password or biometrics such as fingerprints. It will also automatically hide the sender's name and the contents of the message in notifications.
In April 2023, the messaging application strengthened its security offerings with features such as automated security codes, device verification, and extra checks while moving accounts to another device.
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