San Francisco: Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp which introduced many features in the app to improve user experience is likely to bring more features in 2018.
According to the report published in DC, few features are even spotted in beta versions for iOS and Android.
It is also reported that there are rumours that WhatsApp may soon allow users to edit sent messages. It may also introduce group calls.
It may be mentioned that WhatsApp had introduced “Delete for Everyone” feature using which users can delete sent messages within 7 minutes.
Here are the details of the features that WhatsApp may introduce in 2018.
Peer-to-peer payments feature in India
WhatsApp is testing a new payments feature in India that aims to allow people to send money to their friends on the app. The feature is currently in beta, but has not been publicly announced because it is not widely available at this time, TechCrunch reported late on Thursday citing sources familiar with the company’s plans.
When it is launched, the new WhatsApp payments feature could give popular digital wallet platform Paytm, and other messaging services that already support payments, including the recently launched Tez from Google a tough competition.
The payments feature would take advantage of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and include support by a number of banks, including the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank, the report said.
Beta testers have now found their WhatsApp interface displaying a large list of supported banks and they can see a payments feature appear in their WhatsApp Settings menu.
In order to configure the feature, users must first verify their phone number via SMS and then choose a bank.
After the completion of the configuration, the option to send a payment becomes available.
Edit sent messages
Many WhatsApp users are eagerly waiting for this feature. WABetaInfo tweeted, “WhatsApp had added in beta the possibility to edit messages that you already sent, and it is actually disabled by default and it’s under development”.
WhatsApp added in beta the possibility to edit messages that you already sent!
It is actually disabled by default and it's under development— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) December 14, 2016
Currently, users can delete the sent message within 7 minutes.
Group calls
WhatsApp may add group calling feature to allow users to add a maximum of three group members to group video call. Using this feature, four persons, one who initiate the call and three other group members can become part of the group call.
It may be mentioned that to help businesses communicate better with their customers in India, WhatsApp last month officially rolled out “WhatsApp Business” — a free-to-download Android app for small businesses — in the country. WhatsApp currently has over 200 million monthly active users in India.