In the code of WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.22.1.1 update, WABetaInfo has found reference to a new feature called ‘Community’. The upcoming feature will allow Admins of groups chats to add multiple groups in a single group. The ‘Community’ feature will be available on the iOS and Android versions of the app.
Recently, WhatsApp introduced a new privacy feature to hide users’ last seen and online status from strangers. And the company is testing a new interface for audio calls which highlights that the users’ calls are “end-to-end encrypted” besides other changes and it is working on more animated heart emojis in different colors for iOS like the beating red heart emoji.
WhatsApp’s will allow users to create a new Community with up to 10 groups
As per the shared screenshot of the upcoming feature, users will be able to create WhatsApp Communities with up to 10 groups to discuss the topics of their interests with a larger social network.
Like a common group chat, users will be able to set a name, description, and display picture of their community and can add up to ten new or existing groups. And like the members of a group, users will see added ‘groups in this community instead.
More interestingly, each Community might come with a default “Announcement” group to share updates with added groups. In addition, the report confirms that members will not be able to view unlinked groups and when a user leaves a Community, they will not be able to view linked groups in the Community.
In this screenshot, you can also see a new “Announcement” group: we didn’t create it but it seems WhatsApp will automatically create a new group where to post messages that may be automatically forwarded to linked groups.
In addition, we can confirm that, when users join a community, they won’t be able to view groups that have been unlinked from a group admin. In addition, when users leave a community, they won’t be able to view linked groups to the community anymore.
The concept and functionality of the new feature seem similar to Twitter’s Spaces where users connect to discuss a range of topics. However, it is not clear when this feature will be able to beta testers as it is under development.
