WhatsApp has introduced new features Channels can use to interact with their followers. The biggest one, perhaps, is voice updates. Channel admins and owners, such as celebrities, can now send voice messages to their group. Meta says Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was the first celebrity to test it out, but it’s rolling out the feature broadly today. Voice updates is one of WhatsApp’s most popular features, probably because it allows users to send messages without having to type, even while they’re driving or doing something else. Apparently, WhatsApp users send 7 billion voice messages on the app every day, so it was most likely a very easy decision for Meta to bring the feature to Channels.
In addition to voice updates, admins can now also share polls in chat that their followers can answer. Plus, WhatsApp now allows Channels to have as many as 16 administrators if they want to make sure that their followers are always up to date with the latest news. As for fans, they’ll now be able to share a Channel update as their Status, which is the messaging service’s version of Instagram Stories. Since it’s possible to share voice notes as a WhatsApp Status, that presumably means they can also share a Channel voice update if they want. All of these features are making their way to WhatsApp users around the world.
