Message reactions are coming to WhatsApp

WhatsApp might have a ton of users, but it does usually find itself lacking in features compared to a lot of its competitors, and a lot of times that's by design. Some things, however, are missed by people more than others.

One such feature that is a mainstay in other messaging apps, including Facebook's very own Messenger, is message reactions. You long press a message you've received and a row of emojis show up and you can instantly react to that message without having to bother to quote-reply and then insert an emoji, or, even worse, actually type some words.

This feature is finally on its way to WhatsApp, as has been revealed today. The company is seemingly testing it with a very small circle of users. The screenshot above originates from someone who saw that message, clearly intended as a test.

Once message reactions roll out, you'll need to be on the latest version of WhatsApp to see them, and if you're not, then you'll see this message.

Unfortunately we can't tell you exactly when to expect this feature to make it to all WhatsApp users, and the fact that it's already in testing doesn't help a lot either - WhatsApp sometimes tests new features like this for many, many months before it deems them worthy of a release. So, for now, hang tight, knowing that one of the most requested features is actually being worked on.

Source