WhatsApp has rolled out updates for iOS users that add new features to the popular messaging application. One of the features allows users to post voice status updates for contacts customised with privacy settings. Meanwhile, a subsequent update has added support for detecting text directly from images on WhatsApp for iOS. Even though both of these features have started rolling out to iOS users after the company tested the feature with users on the beta channel, some might have to wait after installing these updates to be able to use these features.
Spotted by WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp now allows iOS users to record a voice note and share it as a Status. To record, users must go to the Status tab, tap the pencil icon, and then long press the microphone icon to begin recording.
Voice notes shared as status updates are limited to 30 seconds in length, and users can also forward their own voice notes from chats to a Status. Support for voice Status messages has been added on WhatsApp for iOS 23.5.75, according to the feature tracker.
WhatsApp is also rolling out the feature to multitask during a WhatsApp call without pausing the video, as announced in the changelog for the WhatsApp for iOS 23.3.77 update. This update also includes the feature to detect and extract text messages directly from an image on the application. This is a feature that is supported on recent iPhone models such as the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, or later with iOS 15 or later, according to Apple.
Users who have updated to WhatsApp for iOS 23.5.75 may also be able to use this feature, as per the feature tracker. To test this feature, users can open an image with text and should find a new button that enables them to select and copy text directly from the image.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp beta 2.23.5.13 for Android has reportedly introduced Unicode 15.0 emojis. The official WhatsApp emoji picker has been updated with 21 new additions, available only to the beta testers at the moment.
The Meta-owned messaging service is also tipped to be working on a new text editor feature for the drawing tool, which will include new fonts and text formatting. It has simplified font selection by tapping the possible options on the keyboard. Users can also change text alignment and format text within images, videos, and GIFs and be able to change the colour of the text background.