There’s no worse feeling than trying to throw plans together in a group chat. That pain only deepens the more people are added. Half of them probably have the group chat on mute, while the other half are sharing the same stickers over and over. Today, WhatsApp announced a slate of updates meant to improve group chats.
@All the small things
One of those is designed to make in-chat polls that much more bearable. Now, there’s the option to set a timer for when voting is up, set when the poll is created. Edits to the poll question are possible, though only within fifteen minutes of creation. Finally, members can hide their names when voting.
If you’re anything like us, a good majority of your group chats are already muted. That does little for members on the other end trying to grab your attention with an @mention. Now, group chats have access to the ‘@all’ command, regardless of whether it’s muted. If you find yourself in a group of 32 or more, only admins can summon @all.
Even then, WhatsApp still offers ways to avoid being spammed. “While the @all feature will alert you to important messages even in muted group chats, you remain in control of how you receive notifications and can mute @all at any time in notification settings,” WhatsApp said. Here’s hoping it’s truly customisable.
Lastly, WhatsApp has added the ability to create new group chats from existing ones. Doing so will include everyone from the original chat, and the creator can add or remove contacts from there. WhatsApp’s example involves creating a new chat with one member excluded to help better plan their surprise party.
While not technically included in today’s rollout, WhatsApp recently made good on its promise to introduce web calling. Announced last week, the company also added a few other handy features, such as a call waiting room, QuickHD for speedier loading, and noise suppression. ‘Bout time
