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Whatsapp Aims to Improve Its Interface with New Beta Version for Android

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Whatsapp is coming out with a new beta version for Android that has some new updates and features. The latest update which came out today features a new group call ringtone and also has new sticker animation features. Furthermore, the update, which is Version v2.20.198.11 is a significant sign that the messaging app is working on improving its intuitiveness and interface with regards to calling. Here’s a look at the significant additions and updates that the beta version brings with it.

New Update of Whatsapp

If anything, this new version is proof that the voice, video and text messaging application is looking to improve user experience. The beta version also tests out a new Call UI which will feature all buttons at the screen’s bottom. Moreover, WhatsApp’s beta version has some significant tweaks for animated stickers. While animations of shorter duration will now loop for a maximum of eight times, longer animations will have shorter loop cycles or iterations. Since the animation feature is a recent roll-out by Whatsapp, the new update will try to make the experience smoother for users. The recently launched animated stickers have been quite a hit with users, and the update will only help them grow in popularity. Hence, sticker users will laud the update for making their experience better. The same change will feature in WhatsApp v2.20.198.11 beta, and experts expect these versions to become stable in the coming weeks.

Better UI for Calls

Furthermore, v2.20.198.11 beta also features new ringtones for group calls and will help differentiate between private, and group calls on WhatsApp. All these new changes will go a long way in assisting WhatsApp to improve its user interface for calls. The shifting of buttons to the bottom of the screen will make it easier for users to control the application while on a call. Screenshots released by beta testers show the screen having five buttons at the bottom. The five buttons displayed include information, audio, video, messaging and camera switch buttons. However, since this feature is still in development, it is not a part of the newest beta released by WhatsApp. 

Disappearing Texts

WABetaInfo, a website that follows feature updates for WhatsApp, also reported that the new update features the ability to disappear texts after a preset time. This new feature has been much talked about by fans, as it resembles a texting option that Instagram offers. As per their reports, the new feature will allow users to send text messages that disappear after a while. However, they also state that users have not received any information regarding this feature, making a few believe that it will not be a part of the new update.

Further Changes

Also, the new update sees WhatsApp making the camera shortcut available to users. The messaging application has brought the camera icon in place of the Rooms shortcut, helping make it easier to access. As a result, the new update will feature Camera, Audio, Contacts, Gallery, Audio, Room, Location and Document shortcuts. Such an update follows WhatsApp’s advanced search characteristic. The new search feature makes it easier for people to search for items within the app by filtering various kinds of media. It also allows users to search for documents and links. However, users must note that all these features are a part of the beta version of the application. The company will continue to work on them and refine them before they make them a part of the actual app. While experts expect the stable version to drop within a few weeks, some of these features might not make it in time for the launch. In such cases, we will have to wait for the next update to use them.

WhatsApp keeps releasing beta versions to test new features and improve user experience. Over the years, they have rolled out several important updates that added a sleuth of new features to the application. The messaging application, therefore, takes an active effort to provide users with a seamless and well-integrated user experience. Also, since the company has not officially released a statement regarding the features to expect, it is safe to assume that a few are still under development. While official reports have not hit the news yet, experts do believe that most of these features will find a place for themselves in the new update. The advanced search option, new ringtone and animation features along with a better UI for calls will ensure that users stay satisfied with their experience using the application. 

WhatsApp

Whatsapp Says Only One Forwarding At A Time

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A coin has two faces. While one side enlightens us, the other remains in dark. But, is it always the scenario? Every invention has both pros and cons and it doesn’t take much time for mankind to exploit those cons. While some people try to make the world a better place, others using the same power try to destroy it. Our world is going through a very big crisis right now. Every nation is fighting against the deadly coronavirus. These are vulnerable times when we expect everyone to be sensible. Everyone has a right to know the true facts about this pandemic. Similarly, it is our duty to spread the right message and not initiate violence by circulating rumors. And, no one by common people spread this news via social media. Whatsapp, one of the most popular social media platforms has reported that rumors related to coronavirus are spreading exponentially. When a person is receiving such a message they are forwarding it to as many contacts as possible. So, this leads to extreme misunderstandings molding misconceptions.

What will Whatsapp do?

Seeing the rumors spread like a wildfire, Whatsapp needed to land on a conclusion at the earliest. Whatsapp declared that from now on a person can forward one message to only one contact at a time. Previously, the number was five but to the urgent crisis, it has been dragged down to one. Because the wrong information has a very big potential to start some other form of violence. And, welcoming another war is the last thing our world needs right now.

The company has explained that bringing the number down to one will not completely stop this chain. But, due to the increase in friction lesser people will get the wrong information. It also said that the company has witnessed violence in previous years due to the spread of rumors. One of the biggest examples is the false news of child kidnappers in India in April 2018. Many people were killed due to these shady and false messages. So, the company is trying its best to not repeat its history.

We share other news too

We share almost every kind of content through the platform of Whatsapp. It includes long messages, GIFs, pictures, audio, and video. Apart from the platform serving as a personal way of communicating, it is also a huge source of entertainment. We keep sharing memes, funny videos, helpful information, etc all the time. But, we stop the misuse of Whatsapp on spreading false information, sharing of harmless documents has been compromised as well.

If Whatsapp identifies any message as “highly forwarded”, that is messages sent through more than five chains will be forwarded only to one. The users have also said that the rate at which wrong information is spreading can be very overwhelming. So, it’s better to take a step at the earliest. The problem is when a person is forwarding a message, there is a high chance he isn’t aware of its transparency. And, many of them don’t bother to verify if it’s wrong or right. This increases the chance of spreading rumors.

Whatsapp took precautions before this

It’s not only the rumors of COVID-19 that is spreading like wildfire through Whatsapp. Previously, when Whatsapp noticed for the first time that such misuse of the app is taking place, they took a step. They reduced the number of forwarding contacts from 256 to directly 5. This took place only in India whereas globally it was reduced to 20. But, it helped in reducing the potential degree of harm significantly. But, the outbreak has led to a decrease in that number to one.

It’s for our own good

Whatsapp also said that it is not like you can forward one message to a single person only. It is just hindering the process of sending it to 5 people at a single time. This way it will help reduce the number of forwarded messages. Since, Whatsapp first experimented with it in 2018, after one year the rate has reduced by 25%. It means the strategy is working to slow down the pace of misleading information.

Last month, much false news related to the “cure” of COVID-19 was forwarded along with the connection of military to it. So, apart from the company taking steps, it is a request to the people to think more logically and sensibly.

Facebook Portal TV

Portal TV: New Video Chat Devices from Facebook for Your Living Room

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Despite the backlashes for the user’s privacy invasion, Facebook has been always the leader in the field of social media. And, now the company wants to move ahead with its home devices. Last year, the company launched its own video chat device, Portal Plus, which seemed to be vain when people can use their smartphones for video chats. But Facebook had got its plans for the new hardware range. That is why, now the company has unveiled three more home devices in the similar range.

As a part of its connected devices to TV strategy, Facebook has just launched a new video chat and streaming device called Portal TV. The device is specially built for the users to make video calls over Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp, and for that, the company has incorporated a wide-angle video camera and a microphone to the device. The camera is capable of zooming and following the people around the room for the video calls.

Users can log in to their Facebook accounts on the Portal TV by plugging in the Portal device to the HDMI port of the TV, and they are ready to make video calls. The users need to say “Hey Portal” to the device and instruct it to call the particular person (from their friend list). The same procedure goes for Whatsapp. A picture-in-picture feature included in the Portal device lets the users watch Facebook Watch altogether with video calls to their friends, both in one screen.

Facebook Portal TV
Image Source: pocket-lint.com

The company is careful with its users’ privacy this time at least, as Facebook has included the options to turn off the camera and the microphone, simply by tapping on it or by sliding the cover to the camera, whenever they want. Also, like for the Whatsapp chat smartphone app, the chats, video and text, are encrypted, these are encrypted end to end for the Portal TV, too. But again, there is something unusual that the company has included in the device, and that is, human auditors to listen to what the users are talking over the calls to improve the service. Yes, the device will be continuously recording human chattering, and the Facebook contractors will be reviewing the talks. But again, the users can opt-out of this feature anytime.

Other than that, the device also offers streaming various channels, including Amazon Prime, Facebook Watch, Showtime, etc. The users can also play augmented reality games on the TV while making video calls.

The company revealed that it will bring the devices in the market starting from November 5th, and the Portal TV will cost $149.

Along with the Portal TV, the company also announced two more devices, the Portal Mini video chat smart speaker and a redesigned version of its Portal speakers. The Portal Mini costs $129, and the speakers cost $179. These two devices will be available in the market from October 15. However, buying all three devices together will get you an off of $50.

Instagram down

Instagram Goes Down Again; Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter Also Faces the Outage

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Reportedly, the major social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter, went down for over an hour on Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. ET. The users of these apps around the world reported issues while downloading and sending images, audios, and videos for some time.

It has become quite common for Instagram to go down, in the past few months. But this time, the other three prime apps, FB, Twitter, and Whatsapp, were also facing the same issues at the same time.

Instagram down
Image Source: telegraph.co

Every time the users were trying to see an Instagram post, it was showing the error, “Couldn’t refresh feed” or “Couldn’t load the image. Tap to retry”. Though, the app was able to load the caption under it. Same issues went with Whatsapp multimedia sending and downloading, whereas Facebook was unable to publish the posts.

Twitter users, on the other hand, were unable to direct message. It was showing notification of unread messages, even after the users read the message.

Facebook, while facing these issues, said on the behalf of all its apps in a report, “During one of our routine maintenance operations, we triggered an issue that is making it difficult for some people to upload or send photos and videos. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Where Facebook gave a proper explanation for its app going down, Twitter did not say anything on what caused the issue. But after resolving the issue, Twitter took it to its support handle and wrote, “almost at 100% resolved. There may be some residual effects for a small group of people, but overall your DMs should be working properly now. We appreciate your patience!”

Around 8 p.m. ET, Facebook also said, “The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100% for everyone.”

Instagram has been facing such troubles quite often. Last time, it was three weeks ago when the platform faced the interruptions, that too for two hours. Before the four apps went down yesterday, apps like OKCupid, Peloton, Feedly, Discord and DownDetector have also gone down the day before yesterday, after an outage at Cloudflare.

WhatsApp Pay can Gobble Up Paytm with its Beyond P2P Platform

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Indian digital payment industry is booming, and with the platforms like Paytm, Amazon Pay, and Google Pay, people have got many choices to opt for. On 24th April Facebook-owned WhatsApp also announced that it is going to launch a digital payment service, WhatsApp Pay, in India, giving a clear message to the leaders of digital payment, that they need to brace up for a big competition.

WhatsApp-payments-india
Image Source: thenextweb.com

For now, Paytm, an almost decade-old company, backed by Alibaba, is the biggest local digital payment service in India. On the same league, Amazon has also launched its payment service recently, Amazon Pay UPI for Android customers for peer-to-peer payments, whereas, Google Pay (earlier Google Tez) has got a hold on a share of 45 million users, operating $81 billion in transactions in March. There has been also news from Apple of planning to launch its Apple Pay service in India soon.

Though Paytm has been ruling the Indian market for the past decade, with the rise of other services including Google Pay and Amazon Pay, it has become easy to believe that Whats App Pay can easily influence people with its payment services.

Since WhatsApp has been the most loved app in India, so with a user base of over 300 million in India, it won’t be tough for WhatsApp Pay to challenge the existing digital payment services. In fact, its parent company, Facebook has got additional Indian userbase of over 300 million people, which is huge, as Paytm alone entertains only 230 million users. This way launching a peer-to-peer UPI based payment service will easily attract most of its users as it will be easy for them to transact on WhatsApp.

“Indians love WhatsApp and will love the convenience of transacting through the app. I foresee a trend wherein entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises start embracing and using WhatsApp Pay. This will contribute to, and increase their creditworthiness. In turn, this trend will enable them to easily borrow credit from formal sources, such as banks.” Prabhu Ram, head of the Industry Intelligence Group at CMR, said in the report.

According to WhatsApp, in an app test, over 1 million people were able to send and receive money in a safe and secure manner. The company has also told the Supreme Court on May 3 that it will be complying with the RBI norms before starting its payment service in India, and it is willing to contribute to India’s financial inclusion goals.

Whatsapp Testing a Standalone App for iPad and Working on a New Feature to Restrict Fake News

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According to a report from WABetaInfo, Whatsapp is testing its latest version for the iPad users. Noticeably, Whatsapp has been the most favourite messaging app for both iPhone and Android users, but it has always lagged behind for its iPad users, who could only use the web version of Whatsapp by connecting it with their iPhones.

Whats App for iPad
Image Source: iphonehacks.com

The company is about to update its Whats App version to v2.19.40, which now may also be available for the iPad as a standalone App. The users now will be able to use Whatsapp directly on their iPads by signing in to the app through their registered phone number. This is great news for the iPad users as now they will have access to their WhatsApp account on a bigger screen, and even by splitting the screen, it will provide better visibility.

Also, amid the elections, the company has also revealed a few new features, among which there is a new option for Android users, where the group admins will be able to stop the frequently forwarded messages such that to help stop the spread of fake news. The feature will only be available for the group admins and will appear on the sub-section of the group settings. It will be enabled by default, and the group admin can disable it from the settings.

Though the company has mentioned that the feature is still in its development phase, this is one of the most desired features for every Whats App user, especially in India.

On one hand, the iPad is about to get its own standalone Whatsapp ‘app’, which will include all the features like chatting, video calls, etc., and all the bug fixes. On the other hand, people will be able to ignore the fake news and stop them from further spreading.

The company has not revealed any launch dates for the both as both are still under the development and testing phase.