What is Whatsapp?
Whatsapp is a popular and widely used messaging application that offers a range of features designed to facilitate easy, quick and effective communication and connection among the users. Whatsapp Messenger, a cost-free instant messaging application accessible on both Android and iPhone platforms, facilitates the exchange of text messages individually or within group settings.
It provides its users with effective communication through texting, messaging, voice and video calls, media sharing, end-to-end encryption, privacy and security, status updates, business features, location sharing, mentions and replies and such more.
Best 25 features of Whatsapp in 2023
Whatsapp has numerous features that makes it different from all messaging apps. Here are the best 25 features:
Text Messaging
WhatsApp allows its users to send text messages, media, important documents, emojis, and stickers to individuals or groups, making communication easier and simple for the users. This can be done by installing or downloading WhatsAppapplication, setting up the app by verifying the phone number during the process, finding the particular contact once you’re logged in to the app and then sending the message by typing it in the text input field.
Voice Messages
A noteworthy feature of WhatsApp is its provision for voice messages, enabling its users to readily send concise audio recordings to their contacts.
Voice messages have streamlined the process of engaging in conversations with heightened expressiveness compared to traditional text. In numerous scenarios, voice messages have emerged as the favoured mode of communication on WhatsApp. This approach proves to be straightforward, more accessible, and time-efficient, catering to the preferences of a wide range of users.
On WhatsApp, 7 billion voice messages are sent daily on average, all of which are protected by end-to-end encryption to keep them private and secure at all times
Video Calling
Video calling is a prominent and extensively used communication platforms that has been incorporated by Whatsapp. This functionality simplifies the process of conducting live face-to-face interactions among users, employing both video and audio components.
Furthermore, the video calls made using Whatsapp are secured with end-to-end encryption which signifies that apart from the sender and recipient, no other parties possess the ability to access the content of the call.
Voice Calling
Since 2015, WhatsApp has provided users with the ability to engage in voice calls. This functionality has gradually replaced the conventional phone calls for numerous users.
Voice calling helps in facilitating live discussions among users through audio transmission.
This approach serves as a potent substitute for text-based communication, delivering a more instantaneous and personalised mode of interaction.
WhatsApp’s voice calls are devoid of charges, encompassing international calls as well. However, these calls leverage your Wi-Fi or data plan.
Group Chats
Group chats is a prominent feature within messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, facilitating the users’ ability to engage and collaborate with numerous contacts concurrently within a singular conversation and at the same time. These chats provide a centralised platform for discussions, effectively diminishing the need for multiple disconnected conversations.
End-to-End Encryption
End-to-end encryption an important security measure implemented by WhatsApp, ensuring the protection of communication privacy and confidentiality of its users. It includes the encryption of various forms of content including text messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status updates, and calls to protect them from unauthorised access.
Under this encryption, the content of chats sent or received on the platform remains accessible solely to the sender and intended recipient of the message. Even WhatsApp itself, as well as its parent company Meta, does not possess the capability to view these messages.
Media Sharing
Messaging applications like WhatsApp provide a notable feature known as media sharing, which empowers users to distribute a wide array of visual and auditory content among their contacts. This functionality encompasses the ability to share an assorted collection of media formats, including but not limited to photos, videos, GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format), documents, voice messages, and various others.
According to WhatsApp tracker WABetaInfo, users can attempt to choose more than 30 media using the media picker within a chat. Users will be able to send 100 media if the feature is available to them.
Status Updates
Status updates is a unique feature within messaging platforms like WhatsApp, permitting the users to share short-lived updates that remain viewable to contacts for a predetermined period. In these updates, users have the capability to share a diverse range of content, including text, photos, videos, GIFs, and various other media forms which have the feature of end-to-end encryption.
These updates possess a lifespan of 24 hours, after which they automatically vanish from the feed. This feature provides an engaging and creative way for users to express themselves, share moments, and connect with their contacts, all while ensuring the privacy and security of the content being shared.
WhatsApp Web
WhatsApp Web is a user-friendly feature, granting users the ability to easily have the access of their WhatsApp account and ongoing conversations via a web browser, directly from their computer. This feature facilitates the exchange of WhatsApp messages online on a desktop PC or tablet, enhancing accessibility and convenience.
WhatsApp Web does not create a separate account; instead, it offers access to the same account across both the web browser and the original mobile device. This synchronisation allows users to effectively manage their conversations from both devices without the need to maintain distinct accounts. By using this functionality, users can send and receive messages, images, and other media through a more expansive interface.
WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business is a specialised version of the WhatsApp messaging application designed to cater to the needs of businesses, small enterprises, and service providers. It offers features and tools tailored to facilitate customer engagement, communication, and interaction. It enables easy customer engagement, convenience to the businesses, promotions and marketing, real-time communication, and such more. WhatsApp Business provides an avenue for businesses to connect with customers, provide better customer service, and enhance their overall online presence.
Location Sharing
Location sharing emerges as a vital feature within messaging platforms like WhatsApp, providing users with the capability to easily convey their real-time geographical location to their contacts. This feature facilitates the transmission of one’s current GPS coordinates in the form of a visual map or a specific pinpoint, offering a practical means of enhancing communication and coordination among users. By sharing their precise location, individuals can foster effective meetups, provide directions, and ensure safety in various scenarios.
Voice Notes
Voice notes, also known as voice messages or audio messages, are a prominent feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp. They allow users to send short audio recordings to their contacts, offering a more personalised and expressive form of communication. Voice notes enable users to record and send short audio messages to their contacts. It offers a balance between the immediacy of a phone call and the convenience of text messaging, bridging the gap between spoken and written interactions.
Privacy Settings
Privacy settings are a crucial component of messaging applications like WhatsApp, allowing users to control and customise who can access their information and interact with them on the platform. It empowers users to manage their visibility, interactions, and data sharing on the messaging app, ensuring that users have control over their personal information and the way they engage with others.
Read Receipts
Read receipts are a feature in messaging applications, including WhatsApp, that notify senders when their messages have been read by the recipients. It indicates when a recipient has opened and viewed a message sent by the sender and often appears in the form of two blue checkmarks next to the sent message.
Contact and Media Sharing
Contact and media sharing are integral features in messaging applications, allowing users to exchange various types of information with their contacts. Contact sharing enables users to send the contact details of individuals to their contacts.
Contact sharing streamlines the exchange of contact information, particularly in professional scenarios.
Media sharing on the other hand adds depth and engagement to conversations by incorporating visual and auditory elements.
Search Function
The search function is a fundamental feature in messaging applications, including WhatsApp, that enables users to quickly locate specific messages, contacts, or content within their chat history. The search function enhances productivity by providing a streamlined way to retrieve specific information from past conversations. It helps users locate important messages, content, and contacts with ease, saving time and effort.
Notifications
Notifications are a crucial feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, serving as alerts that inform users about new messages, updates, or activities within the app. Notifications can be of various types such as message notifications, call notifications, status updates and notifications about the group activities. They keep users informed and engaged, ensuring timely responses and interactions and also leads to the enhancement of the overall user experience by making communication more seamless and immediate.
Mentions
Mentions are a valuable feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, allowing users to specifically tag or notify individuals within a group conversation or chat. They are used to draw the attention of a particular person by using their usernames within a message. When mentioned, the tagged person receives a notification, alerting them to the message for which they are mentioned.
Backup and Restore
Backup and restore functionalities are crucial components of messaging applications like WhatsApp, enabling users to safeguard their chat history and media and restore them when needed. Backup allows users to create a copy of their chat history, media, and settings to prevent data loss. On the other hand, Restore enables users to retrieve their chat history and media from a backup. They enable smooth transitions between devices and help users recover from data loss situations.
Blocked Contacts
Blocking contacts is a significant feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, allowing users to restrict communication and interactions with specific individuals. Blocking a contact prevents them from sending messages, calls, and seeing your status updates or profile picture. Blocking offers a sense of control and protection by enabling users to manage unwanted interactions.
Custom Wallpapers
Custom wallpapers are a feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp that allow users to personalise the appearance of their chat backgrounds. It enables users to set unique background images for their individual and group chats.
Emoji and Stickers
Emojis and stickers are expressive and engaging features in messaging applications like WhatsApp, enhancing communication by adding visual elements to conversations. Emojis allow users to express sentiments that might be challenging to convey through words alone. On the other hand, Stickers are larger, more detailed images or illustrations that often include characters, animations, or messages.
Multimedia Editing
Multimedia editing is a versatile feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, enabling users to enhance and personalise the visual and auditory content they share with others. It allow users to modify and enhance images, videos, and other media before sharing them within the app. The different types of multimedia editing include image editing, video editing and GIF creation. It adds personalization and customization to conversations, making interactions more expressive.
Live Location Sharing
Live location sharing is a valuable and practical feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, allowing users to share their real-time geographical location with their contacts. Live location sharing enables users to share their current GPS coordinates with contacts in the form of a map or pinpoint. It provides a practical tool for staying connected and informed about the real-time whereabouts of contacts.
Dark Mode
Dark mode is a popular and widely appreciated feature in messaging applications like WhatsApp, offering users an alternative colour scheme that uses darker backgrounds and lighter text. Dark mode provides a darker colour palette for the app’s interface, reducing the brightness of the screen. It’s designed to be easier on the eyes in low-light environments and during nighttime use. Its benefits include reduced eye strain, energy saving and visual comfort.
Is Whatsapp Safe to Use?
WhatsApp, the messaging application owned by Meta, is used by two billion people. To ensure the security of data during transferring between senders and recipients, WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption. Users can further enhance the security of their accounts by managing privacy settings. These settings include chat privacy, status privacy, and more, granting users the ability to control who can access their information and interact with them. WhatsApp also offers the option to enable end-to-end encryption for backups, adding an extra security to data stored in backups.
The various studies showing that people trust more on Whatsapp are –
- The research examined the perspectives of individuals in India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States regarding their trust in news sources and social media platforms. The findings revealed that 77% of respondents in India expressed trust in the news media as a whole. Additionally, 54% of participants indicated trust in news received via WhatsApp, 51% on Google and YouTube, 41% on Facebook, 27% on Instagram, 25% on Twitter, and 15% on TikTok.
- According to a recent report, individuals in India tend to place greater trust in YouTube and WhatsApp compared to mainstream media when it comes to fact-checking and disseminating information. Meanwhile, in the United States and the United Kingdom, traditional mainstream media still largely holds the trust of the public. However, a notable segment of the population in these countries expressed scepticism regarding the accuracy of information shared across all media platforms.
- Approximately 80% of the participants indicated their belief in the app’s ability to safeguard their personal information, despite the widespread occurrence of data breaches and security vulnerabilities on alternative platforms. Interestingly, it is somewhat ironic that Indian users maintain a significant level of trust in WhatsApp, even though the company, owned by Facebook, has faced criticism for its role in disseminating misinformation and fake news.
- The study highlights that in India, a majority of individuals place trust in news received through WhatsApp and regularly use the messaging app as a source of daily news. The research draws upon survey data collected from Brazil, India, the UK, and the US.
Conclusion
In conclusion, WhatsApp is a widely used and trusted messaging application with a user base exceeding two billion individuals globally. Its utilisation of end-to-end encryption ensures the secure transmission of data, maintaining privacy during communication. Moreover, the platform offers strong privacy settings that empower users to control their interactions and manage who can access their information. The option for end-to-end encryption in backups and security notifications adds additional protection.
Interestingly, various studies and reports indicate that users in various countries, including India, have considerable trust in WhatsApp for receiving news, despite concerns about misinformation and fake news. This dynamic shows the platform’s dual role as a secure communication tool and a source of information.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp stands as a widely used messaging platform that empowers users to effortlessly send messages, engage in voice and video calls, and exchange an array of media types like photos and videos with their connections. Its inception traces back to 2009, credited to Jan Koum and Brian Acton, and it swiftly got popularity because of its intuitive interface, ability to function across various platforms, and its incorporation of end-to-end encryption to safeguard messages.
Is WhatsApp free to use?
Yes, WhatsApp is available for free for download and usage, enabling messaging, voice calls, and video calls. With the help of this app, you can readily send messages, share various media in the form of photos and videos, start off voice and video calls and such more.
WhatsApp operates over an internet connection, either through mobile data or Wi-Fi, to facilitate the transmission of messages and calls. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to acknowledge that utilising WhatsApp over a mobile data connection might utilise data from your mobile plan, potentially resulting in data charges contingent on your specific data plan.
Can I use WhatsApp on my computer?
Yes, you have the option to utilize WhatsApp on your computer using the “WhatsApp Web” feature. WhatsApp Web enables you to reach your WhatsApp account and engage in conversations via a web browser on your computer. This can be particularly convenient when you’re engrossed in computer work and wish to seamlessly continue your chats without the necessity of transitioning to your mobile device.
What are WhatsApp Groups?
WhatsApp Groups are a feature within the WhatsApp messaging application that allows users to create and participate in group chats with multiple contacts. With WhatsApp Groups, users can communicate, share media, and collaborate with a specific set of people all in one place.
How do I ensure my privacy on WhatsApp?
The following steps can be undertaken to ensure privacy on Whatsapp:
1. Control Who Can See Your Information:
2. Manage last seen
3. Block unwanted contacts
4. Two-Step Verification:
5. Protect Backup with encryption
6. Use Biometric Lock
7. Update the app regularly
8. Be cautious while sharing anything on the app
Can I back up my WhatsApp chats?
Yes, you can back up your WhatsApp chats to ensure that your messages and media are not lost in case you switch phones or need to reinstall WhatsApp.
Is WhatsApp the same as Facebook Messenger?
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are two separate messaging applications, but both are owned by Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly known as Facebook, Inc.). While they serve the purpose of connecting people through messaging, they have distinct features and characteristics.
While WhatsApp emphasises privacy and secure communication, Facebook Messenger offers a wider range of functionalities tied to the broader Facebook ecosystem.
Can I share documents and media files on WhatsApp?
Yes, you can share various types of documents and media files on WhatsApp. The platform allows you to share a wide range of file formats and media types with your contacts or in group chats.
WhatsApp supports various document formats, including PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and more. It also allows you to share media such as photos, videos, audio clips, and more.
How can I block or report a contact on WhatsApp?
If you encounter unwanted or spammy contacts on WhatsApp, you can block or report them to prevent further communication in the following manner:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the contact you want to block.
- Tap the contact’s name at the top of the chat to open their profile.
- Scroll down and tap on “Block” or “Block Contact.”
Can I customise my WhatsApp experience?
Yes, you can customise your WhatsApp experience by adjusting various settings and using features that allow personalization.
Is WhatsApp available in multiple languages?
Yes, WhatsApp is available in various languages, making it easily accessible to the users from different regions and linguistic backgrounds. WhatsApp offers support for a wide range of languages to ensure that users can communicate in their preferred language.
Are there any limitations to using WhatsApp?
In spite of various features that the app has, there are some limitations to it as well some of which are stated below –
1. Internet Connection Requirement:
2. Phone Number Requirement
3. Contact Access
4. Device Compatibility
5. Limited Device Sync
6. Privacy and security concerns
7. Limited offline functionality
8. No provision of multiple accounts on the same device