If you asked around this time last year, most people would have told you WhatsApp was lacking in features compared to other encrypted messengers like Signal and Telegram. But 2023 has been a banner year for Meta’s engineering team, and their renewed vigor for adding functionality has taken WhatsApp past feature parity with its competitors to the point where it now probably leads the pack — at least on the beta channel.

In September alone, the service launched major new functionality in Channels that could change the way you use WhatsApp, expanded to a new platform with tens of millions of users, and started work on a complete redesign of the app’s interface. Oh, and then there’s the whole generative AI thing, so let’s go ahead and dig in.

iPad support

Lots of Android phone users keep iPads lying around the house, and they’ll be happy to know WhatsApp is finally working on an official iPadOS app. The new app entered its beta testing phases on September 19, but a stable release timeframe has yet to be announced. When it does debut, WhatsApp’s new multi-device “companion mode” feature should make it a seamless texting experience on iPad.

Channels rollout

After months of beta testing, WhatsApp formally announced Channels on September 13, then went on to make the feature available to everyone worldwide by September 19. The one-to-many messaging feature works a lot like Twitter, where one person posts a message and everyone who follows that person sees it.

The backbone of Channels functionality had been present for months in beta testing, but WhatsApp added a few key finishing touches to the feature in September. The ability to react to messages from Channels rolled out to most testers with version 2.23.19.4, and before that, 2.23.19.2 changed the Channels UI to add search chips for easier filtering.

Communities keep getting stronger

WhatsApp Communities may have rolled out last November, but Meta isn’t resting on its laurels with the enterprise-focused feature that brings multiple WhatsApp groups together into one place, organized by topic. To help you better recognize the feature, Communities got a new stacked icon in the main chat list with version 2.23.20.3. Prior to that, 2.23.19.6 added a General group chat to Communities where all members can gather to just talk.

AI is all the rage

You can’t really call yourself a Big Tech company these days unless you’re incorporating generative AI into something. After ChatGPT’s success spawned others like Google Bard and Bing Chat, Mark Zuckerberg has announced Meta AI, a chatbot for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and basically any Meta property where it vaguely makes sense. Soon, you’ll be able to access the bot within your existing conversations by typing commands like “@MetaAI /imagine” followed by a query or command.

Source: WhatsApp

Meta is also rolling out a feature we had seen in development back in early August: the ability to create custom stickers using AI. Both of these features were announced in late September, so it will likely take until sometime in October before they become available to everyone in the stable release channel.

Showing the UI some love

We got our first glimpse of WhatsApp’s big upcoming redesign on the last day of August with version 2.23.13.16, but development has mostly taken place over September. For instance, 2.23.19.10 brought the swipeable navigation bar back after it disappeared when WhatsApp Beta shifted to a bottom bar in May, then came back briefly in June, and disappeared again in August. With any luck, it’ll stick around this time.

But bottom bars aren’t the only UI change — the latest beta versions include assets for a completely redesigned home screen and chat interface. Gone is the green action bar at the top of the app, being replaced by a simple white or gray bar, depending on your dark mode settings. Several other design elements are being completely reworked throughout the app, but the change isn’t live yet even for beta testers, so it could be a while before we see it in the stable channel.

Let’s not forget about chats

WhatsApp clearly hasn’t lost touch with its roots — September saw several improvements to the standard chat interface. Version 2.23.19.7 made the chat list filters (All, Unread, Personal, Business) look like search chips thanks to new pill-shaped backgrounds, which matches the new search filter chips in Channels mentioned above. Meanwhile, 2.23.16.9 added an option to disable Instant Video Messages, a feature that had been added back in July. And to round things out, 2.23.19.8 fixed a bug with previous betas that caused a crash when replying to someone’s Status.

After high-res image support was added back in August, version 2.23.19.3 expanded beta access to a feature that redirects you to WhatsApp’s internal media picker when attaching a file. You see, the new HD option provided better quality, but it still wasn’t original resolution. Previously, you had been able to send full-res media by tapping the attachment icon rather than the media icon, but this used Android’s internal file picker. Now, there is an option in the document sharing menu that takes you to WhatsApp’s media picker UI, providing the best of both worlds.

Calling features

WhatsApp isn’t just a texting platform — it’s used by millions of people each day for VoIP calls and video chats, too. After Meta increased the limit for video calls to 32 participants in July, users were frustrated to find out that you could only initiate calls with up to 15 people — the other 17 had to be added after the fact. Thankfully, version 2.23.19.16 now lets you start video calls with 32 participants from the get-go.

But when you start that next 32-person video call, don’t be surprised if you’re greeted by avatars instead of real faces. In mid-September, version 2.23.19.14 revealed work on a feature that could soon let you use your avatar in video calls like Memoji on FaceTime. The 3D avatar will “mimic your facial movements and expressions in real-time,” per the onboarding screen.

Privacy and security

Last but not least considering WhatsApp’s roots, security was a focus in September’s updates. Version 2.23.19.15 made it easier to ensure your chats are secure by automating the Verify security code feature that lets you and the other party compare cryptographic keys to check for potential man-in-the-middle attacks on your encrypted chat. It was something the company had said it would do back in April, but it’s nice to see WhatsApp deliver.

Finally, WhatsApp formally embraced the inevitable passwordless future we’re headed towards. Passkey support went live in the beta channel with version 2.23.20.4, offering a “simple way to sign in safely” with cryptographic keys, rather than passwords, that are stored in Google’s Password Manager and automatically verified at the time of login — all you have to do is unlock your phone to authenticate the passkeys, and WhatsApp will do the rest.