Crawling closer to launch
WhatsApp is evolving steadily, working on new features like the one we just saw which will eventually make importing your chat backup easier. Another upcoming ability we first caught wind of back in April would let you create polls for your group chats. Work has clearly been continuing behind the scenes, and now the app’s latest beta reveals additional details about how polling in WhatsApp chats is going to work.
This past spring we got our first peek at this in-development poll-creation interface, letting you pose a question and offer up to 12 options for answers. WABetaInfo was initially only able to access that screen with some manual hacking, but now reports that the new 2.22.10.11 beta of WhatsApp for Android reveals how we’ll most likely ultimately access that menu. The option to create a poll appears as the seventh option on the chat action sheet accessible by tapping the paperclip icon in the WhatsApp message box.
It’s possible we’ll see the ultimate placement changed, but we’ll likely get something similar come across iOS and desktop releases, when this finally goes official. The implementation seems intuitive, because attaching a poll to the chat is in the same ballpark as attaching media, a location pin, or a document.
Interestingly, while WABetaInfo notes the feature is intended for group chats, the screenshot above shows the chat action sheet in a conversation with an individual. This might suggest poll creation will be available for one-on-one and group chats, alike.
Platforms which allow communities and large groups to interact, including Instagram, Telegram, and Twitter, have had similar polling features for years now. WhatsApp’s implementation is still a work in progress hidden away from beta testers, and specifics could change during testing ahead of its worldwide release — whenever that happens.
