Today we're taking a look at a set of three WhatsApp news stories that should help you decide whether to continue using the app. One has to do with a viral "Argentina Is Doing It" message about COVID-19. Another is about a future update to WhatsApp that'll introduce a Vacation Mode - hopefully. The third story includes information on 6 previously undisclosed security vulnerabilities delivered by WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is adding an easier way to fact-check forwarded messages, a shortcut to potentially better debunking viral information and fake news. The new tool adds to the messaging service's limits around forwarding that were added back in April, and which were billed at the time as a way to stem the spread of conspiracy theories and false claims which had proved to be rampant.
Many people these days own multiple devices, at least a phone and a laptop. Many people also use multiple messaging services, not even counting the venerable SMS. Juggling these two pluralities is no easy task, especially in cases where a messaging service puts limits on how many devices you can use the same account on. WhatsApp is one such service but that might soon be changing with a new Linked Devices feature that was just added to the latest beta version on Android.
WhatsApp has been making some changes here at the beginning of July, first to the way users interact with each other at the beginning of the month and today to the way users interact with businesses on the platform. WhatsApp today announced new features that will make it easier for you to contact a business using the app, while at the same time making it easier for businesses to share products from their catalogs.
Today we're taking a peek at what you need to know about the next update for WhatsApp for multiple platforms. This update adds new Animated Stickers, upgrades QR codes, and adds Dark Mode for WhatsApp web and desktop platforms. If you're working with video calls, you'll find the newly upgraded ability to include 8 people on a call. If you're one of the growing pack of people using a phone with KaiOS, you're in luck - a new feature, at last!
This week the Facebook for Android app updated the way they show their brand - with all sorts of icons. You'll see Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. This is just the tip of the iceberg, really, as Facebook's ramped up acquisitions of companies over the last several years. Do you know if your favorite app and/or service is owned by Facebook? Let's take a look at the list of names that are actually owned and/or run by Facebook, from top to bottom.
WhatsApp just fixed a system with which WhatsApp phone numbers were available to view and copy through a simple Google search. All WhatsApp needed to do was change a bit of code to de-index the lot of webpages created by their wa.me system - which they've done, this week. Users might never have known that their phone number was made public with this setup - but they might as well have suspected.
A security researcher revealed an oddity in the way WhatsApp allows smartphone numbers to be listed on Google. It's not ALL phone numbers that've been used to gain access to WhatsApp, but those that've conversed with website operators. If you've never spoken to anyone on WhatsApp except for the people you know personally, you're probably not subject to this relative break in security on the platform.
The next major update for WhatsApp will add some real encryption for chat history in iCloud. That's not to say that WhatsApp was necessarily unencrypted in any other way in the past, but this newest update adds a key component to the mix, specifically for iOS user. There's also a QR code element that'll soon - we can only cross our fingers and hope - be added to the system to make the sending of user details faster and simpler.
In late April, Facebook introduced Messenger Rooms, a new video chatting feature that enables up to 50 people to participate in the same group call. The feature was introduced as demand for video messaging services has skyrocketed, joining Skype, Zoom, and other similar platforms. The latest WhatsApp beta adds an integration with this feature.
Today the folks at WhatsApp - owned by Facebook - increased the number of people that can join a group video meeting to 8 users. WhatsApp calls this Group Video - and before now, the service was slightly more limited, with a max of 4 users at a time. Per WhatsApp officials, this boost is due in part to the drastic increase in use of WhatsApp over the past month, during our current global pandemic.
A new report this week suggests that Facebook plans on utilizing WhatsApp to serve advertisements at some point in the future. That's the plan, according to inside sources, but the timeline for this update isn't entirely clear. The idea that Facebook would eventually integrate WhatsApp into their family of data-harvesting, ad-serving apps isn't a brand new idea. It's a good time to remind ourselves that, regardless of what's happened over the past few months and years, Facebook remains dedicated to monetizing all of their properties with user data turned into targeted advertisements.