WhatsApp had an active year with these new features

WhatsApp developer teams have really been super involved in introducing innovative features and updates for Android, iOS, and even for the web. Outstanding functions include WhatsApp Fees, Disappear Texts and ‘Mute always’ to groups.

No surprise then that the data on the app has showed a noticeable rise in use. In March, before the Coronavirus pandemic first took hold with lockdowns and homework schedules, people spent an average of more than 15 billion minutes chatting on WhatsApp calls every day, way above pre-pandemic usage trends.

WhatsApp will stop working on older devices

Millions of phones across the world would no longer be able to run the app from January 1, 2021, when the chat app phased out older smartphones. In some ways, phones will be updated to more modern apps to keep it going, but most will drop it entirely. The app also removed support for older smartphones to remain up to date.

Disappearing messages

Earlier this month, the company formally made an announcement of ‘disappearing messages’, a feature that would instantly delete your app messages after a certain amount of time.

WhatsApp Payments

The last significant addition of the year would be the implementation of WhatsApp Payments. Just as we were moving into the end of 2020. The business has revealed that the W-Payments feature is now available to up to 20 million users in different regions.

‘Always Mute’ Option

We all have that particular concern about muting group notifications. The app launches ‘Mute Always’ option in the Mute settings for each group now substitutes the 1-year option, with some other options being 8 hours and 1 week. The option is valid on WhatsApp for Android and WhatsApp for iPhone, and it’s priceless.