WhatsApp has a number of features in the oven at the moment, and it’s added one more to the mix: message reactions. Which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The feature, spotted by WABetaInfo, is currently in the early stages of development.

WhatsApp is looking for a reaction

Now, that’s not to say you’ve never been able to ‘react’ to a message before, but now you can show it in-app. This will, presumably, provide you with a dedicated button for specialised reaction emojis or images. We imagine it will look similar to Facebook’s own take on ‘reactions’. Facebook’s had ‘reactions’ as a feature for ages now, so it’s strange that it’s taken so long for the feature to arrive in WhatsApp.

For those of you who don’t know what message reactions look like, it’s pretty simple. You can effectively stick an emoji directly onto a message you’re reacting to. It’s as simple as that.

There are no images of what WhatsApp’s reactions would look like in full, but WABetaInfo managed to get ahold of an image that reads:

“You received a reaction. Update your version of WhatsApp to see reactions.”

This confirms it pretty much entirely as far as we’re concerned. It’s no surprise that you’d need to be running the latest version of the app in order to enjoy its newest features either.

As we said earlier, the feature is still in the early stages of development, so we’re not likely to see it reach end-users particularly soon. But as more info (and hopefully screenshots) on ‘reactions’ are dug up, we’ll keep you updated. Twitter is also working on its own take on a ‘reactions’ feature.