Facebook-owned WhatsApp is testing a new feature for its 200 million-plus users in India. Aimed at countering the menace of fake news plaguing its platform, the feature will mean new restrictions for the company’s users in the country. Here’s everything you need to know about the changes coming to WhatsApp.
1) WhatsApp removing ‘Quick Forward’ button for photos and other media : As a part of the feature, WhatsApp will be removing the quick forward button that one saw in beside the media (photo, video or GIF) files inside a chat.
2) India-only feature (so far) : This new feature restricting the number of forward messages will be rolled out only in India for now.
3) The limit for forwards globally has been made 20 : For the global version of the WhatsApp, the company will reportedly limit the number of forwards to 20 other groups.
4) Feature coming to beta testers first, wider rollout to follow : WhatsApp told GadgetsNow that this feature will be first coming to Android beta testers. Post this, it will be rolled out to regular (non-beta) users.
5) The new feature is not a server-side update : It is also worth noting here that this particular feature is not a server-side update, but will come as a regular app update for non-beta users.
6) It is not clear what the new restriction means for group chats : We are yet to see how the feature works. It is also not clear if this is available for individual chats or group chats as well.
7) In India, people forward more messages, photos, and videos than any other country in the world, said the company on its blog post.
8) The message restriction follows the recent WhatsApp ‘label’ feature : This feature comes close on the heels of the company rolling out the ‘label’ feature. The all-new ‘label’ feature tells WhatsApp users if a message has been forwarded with the word ‘forwarded’ written right on top of the message.
