WhatsApp update: new interface for unknown numbers

WhatsApp adds a new interface for messages from unknown numbers

June 28, 2016: While we continue to wait patiently for video calls to make their way to WhatsApp, a small change has been made to the WhatsApp UI. In version 2.16.139 of the app, when you receive a message from an unknown number, a slightly modified interface now appears. The options are to report spam, block, and add to contacts. The feature itself is not new, rather the appearance has changed. As always, you can press on add to contacts then new to save the number to your phone book, if you trust the sender

WhatsApp gets persistent notification for web client

May 20, 2016: WhatsApp 2.16.90 beta has one feature that really stands out: a persistent notification that appears when the web client is active. While the move makes sense from a privacy and security perspective (in case you forget you've left the web client open or someone opens it while you're away from your computer), the notification appears at the top of the screen as though you have a message,  and there's no way to disable it without disabling all notifications from WhatsApp.

By pressing on the notification, you are given the option to log out from all active web sessions. 

Whether the notification will feature in the next stable release remains to be seen, but hopefully, if it does, there will be added options to disable it.

WhatsApp video calling spotted in beta app update

May 17, 2016: WhatsApp's rumored video calling feature has been spotted in a beta app update. Available for a short time in the Play Store, some users with WhatsApp version 2.16.80 could see video calling options in the app, though they couldn't actually make any calls.  

We suspect that the final implentation of this feature could be on its way shortly. For more, head to our original news story at the link and check out the interface in the image below.

WhatsApp adds rich text formatting, reply from notification shade, more

April 30, 2016: WhatsApp has migrated several features from the beta version of WhatsApp to the final version and added some previously unseen ones, too.

Firstly, all users can now use and view bold, italic and strikethrough text. You can use these with the following special characters: *bold*, _italics_ and ~strikethrough~. 

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