WhatsApp is making it easier to react to messages

WhatsApp releases some new features and design improvements to help you become faster and more creative with your messaging. Starting today, WhatsApp users can double-tap to react to messages in chats instead of tapping and holding them, with their most used emoji now appearing in a scrollable pop-up menu instead of the general selection that was provided previously.

It’s a similar quality of life feature that Discord provides: placing your favorite reactions within easy reach so you don’t have to search through a giant wall of emojis. WhatsApp users can still easily access other emoji options by clicking the plus symbol in the reaction bar. On the other hand, the Meta Messenger app still only displays the same five emoji as a reaction to every message – an update I’d like to see carried over from WhatsApp in the future.

filters and virtual backgrounds which WhatsApp introduced for video calling last year now appears in its messages, allowing users to edit snaps with 30 different visual effects when they take photos or videos in chats. Sticker packs can now be shared directly in chats, and users can turn their selfies into custom stickers by tapping the sticker icon. The Selfie Stickers feature is currently only available on Android, with iOS support coming “soon,” WhatsApp says.