New developments for the Newsletter function, which sooner or later will also appear in the final version of WhatsApp. On multiple occasions we’ve seen signs of developments going on in previously released beta versions and once again something similar happens. The protagonist is the recent Android distribution characterized by the version number 2.23.8.6, where we find news in this sense. Newsletters are designed to be a valuable tool for conveying information and will allow users to easily receive useful updates from other WhatsApp profiles.
In the latest Android distribution the feature has been renamed to “Channels”as the screenshots shared by show WABetaInfo. Based on previous betas we know that Channels they will be available as a separate and optional section within the Status tabwhich will be renewed including changes to the graphics according to this type of use.
A WhatsApp channel will have very specific characteristics, for example it will behave like a private tool in which the sensitive information of the user who joins, primarily his phone number, will not be viewable by default. We also know that messages within a channel will not have end-to-end encryption, given the large number of users who will be able to subscribe to a channel. It is worth specifying that nothing will change in private messaging, where data protection will remain active and no one, except us, will be able to have access to our personal messages or listen to our calls.
Similar to the classic forms of Newsletters that go beyond more invasive social services, users will be able to easily decide which Channels to subscribe to regardless of whether the creators are among our contacts or not. Furthermore, there will be no way to suffer the hated automatic subscriptions, as happened in the past on Facebook there will be no algorithmic recommendations or other ways to drive users to specific Channels.
Channels will support handles and it will thus be possible to easily find a specific WhatsApp channel, simply with a written search for the name from a text field available in the application, eliminating the need to rely on external sites.
For now, the information ends here and it is clear that WhatsApp has been working on it for quite a while with the intention of arriving at a stable and functional definitive version right away. At the moment the timing remains unknown, but we have been talking about it on a monthly basis for some time now and perhaps by the end of spring we will be able to see something concrete, but it is only a hypothesis.
Among the most recent news that emerged in the WhatsApp beta channel, we know that a revision of the user interface on Android is being worked on, which will bring a graphic style more similar to the one currently experienced on iOS. Not only that, there has also been talk of the possible arrival of hidden chats, i.e. those contents that will be blocked by default from prying eyes and can only be unlocked with our fingerprint.
