Animated Emojis feature in WhatsApp Beta
WhatsApp, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform, is working on a new feature that will allow users to send Animated Emojis. The feature has been spotted in development on the latest desktop beta version of the popular messaging service. Animated Emojis are currently supported on messaging services like Telegram and Slack and provide a richer communication experience on these platforms. According to a feature tracker, WhatsApp is also working on adding a similar feature in a future update of WhatsApp beta for iOS and Android. The app currently allows users to send standard, static emoji along with stickers and GIFs.
According to a report by WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo, the service is working on adding support for new Animated Emojis. This is said to be created using animations from the Lottie library. Once available, the new animated emoji will ship by default, according to WABetaInfo. Additionally, these animations are small in size, and can be resized without losing quality.
The feature which is currently under development was seen on the beta version of WhatsApp desktop. As the feature is still in development, there’s no word on when (or if) it will finally be released, and users on the beta channel can’t currently try out these Animated Emojis. A feature tracker reveals that the messaging platform will bring the same feature in a future update of WhatsApp beta for iOS and Android.
Last month, WhatsApp rolled out support for Unicode 15.0 emoji to select beta testers updating on Android. It has added 21 new emojis to the official WhatsApp keyboard. Users can access the emojis by downloading the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.5.13 or later from the Google Play Store.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp recently announced the rollout of three new security features for all users on Android and iOS devices. ‘Account Protect’, ‘Device Verification’ and ‘Automatic Security Codes’ are claimed to make the app safer for users. While ‘Device Verification’ will prevent users from installing malware, ‘Account Protect’ will alert users when they try to transfer an account from an old to a new device.
