WhatsApp has announced the launch of two new features. The messaging app will now feature the much-awaited picture-in-picture support for video calling and ability to have text as a status message. These new features will be available for both Android and iOS users.
The first feature is picture-in-picture (PIP) mode which allows users to resize the video calling window and move it around so that they can do multitasking alongside. Now, users can text a friend or do something else while on a video call.
WhatsApp had started testing the PIP feature on Android smartphones in July. However, Android users will still have to wait as the feature has been made available only on Android 8.0 Oreo devices. On the other hand, iOS users have no such issue as the feature works on iOS 10.
The second feature, called text status allows users the ability to post text-only status updates on WhatsApp. Earlier users could share only images, GIFs and videos in the Status tab. This is similar to the Status feature on Facebook and lets you customize text statuses by choosing a specific font and background color, or also include links.
To use this feature there is a pencil button added right above the camera icon in the Status Tab. You can click on the button to upload colored text status. You can also add emojis, change font style, and change the background color to design your text status.
Though the feature started to roll out last month through server side change, it is now generally available on all the stable builds. For Android, the latest version is 2.17.323 and for iOS devices, it is 2.17.52.
The facebook-owned messaging app has been planning to bring in many new features recently. One of the most talked about of them is ‘WhatsApp for Business’ feature which will let companies have verified accounts to chat with their customers. Also, it will soon integrate UPI based payments support in India.
