Some users are seeing more than the core six emoji reactions
Message reactions have been in the works for WhatsApp for some time. Thanks to some leaks, we know how WhatsApp’s take on this feature will look on your phone and on the web version, and it has started to roll out to some people using the latest WhatsApp Beta on Android. Right now, the number of reaction emoji is limited, but that might soon change.
WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.10.9 gives us a glimpse at how you will be able to add emoji reactions other than the five standard ones. When tapping a message to send a reaction, a plus symbol will show up at the very right of the reaction carousel. Upon tapping it, you will be taken to the familiar WhatsApp emoji picker, where you can choose any emoji your heart desires. This new reaction picker is currently rolling out to those using the latest beta version, but there seems to be a server-side switch involved, so it’s not available for everyone just yet.
Source: WABetaInfo
As reported earlier by WABetaInfo, message reactions initially went live for some people after updating to beta version 2.22.8.3, but they were disabled pretty soon after. A few weeks later, WhatsApp was found rolling out reactions to some beta users again, this time to some using version 2.22.9.4.
Right now, emoji reactions seem to be a very limited test that has only reached a few users. If you want to try your luck, you can download the latest beta version of the app. If you’re enrolled in the beta program, go to the Google Play Store and grab the latest version, and if you aren’t, you can try entering (we can’t guarantee you’ll get in since it’s limited and almost always full). You also have the (much easier) option of grabbing the latest beta of the app on APKMirror and updating manually.
WhatsApp has since officially announced that it’s working on emoji reactions along with a plethora of other features to keep up with the times, like WhatsApp Communities which will allow you to create Discord server-like lists of group chats or the ability to share files as large as 2GB. It likely won’t take too long until we will see these features roll out to the stable channel.
UPDATE: 2022/04/25 04:33 EST BY MANUEL VONAU
More reactions are coming soon
The article has been updated to show how you will be able to access more reactions.
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