WhatsApp working on two new features similar to Instagram, here is all we know about them

Billions of users across the world use WhatsApp as their go-to app for communicating with friends, family, and even colleagues. The Meta-owned app is undoubtedly one of the most popular choices for users in India as well when it comes to instant messaging apps. Hence, whenever there is an update regarding WhatsApp, it piques the interest of its users. In the last few months, there were several updates that were announced for the app.

Now, it looks like the Meta-owned platform is trying to be more like Instagram as new features are reportedly in the works. According to a report from WA Beta Info, a reliable source for WhatsApp news, the instant messaging platform is working on two new features.

Users might be able to reshare status updates

The first feature that WhatsApp is reportedly working on is letting users reshare others’ status updates. This feature promises to improve the user experience by enabling the easy resharing of status updates on users' profiles.

Discovered by WABetaInfo in the Android app's beta version 2.24.16.4, the upcoming feature could introduce a convenient shortcut button for resharing status updates for Android users. That’s not all, users might also be able to add their own customisations to the status updates that they are sharing. At this stage, it remains unclear whether WhatsApp will notify users when their status updates are reshared by others.

This feature bears a resemblance to Instagram’s reshare functionality. If WhatsApp actually rolls out this feature, users will no longer have to take screenshots or request the original uploader to send the media privately for resharing purposes.

WhatsApp’s double tap to react feature for Android users

Another feature that could be in the works for Android users is double tap to react. Currently, Android users have to long-press the message in order to react to it. However, as per WA Beta Info, going forward they will be able to just double tap on the message if they want to react to it. This is similar to Instagram’s double tap feature where a heart emoji appears by default if you double-tap a message.

If WhatsApp brings the double tap to react feature to Android, it would make reacting to messages much quicker and convenient for users.