WhatsApp is offering users the ability to react to a message with an emoji rather than text, increasing file sizes that can be shared to 2GB from 100MB previously, and doubling the maximum size of group chats to 512 people.
Meta Platforms (FB), the parent company of WhatsApp, has long teased these enhancements. Meta has previously said that “all emojis” would be added to WhatsApp in the future.
Year to date, Meta Platforms stock is down nearly 40% at $208.28 U.S. per share.
The addition of emojis on WhatsApp follows other social media platforms such as Slack and Telegram and allows people to respond to a message without clogging up a group chat with text. That’s going to be important as WhatsApp expands the maximum size of group chats to 512 people from 256 previously.
WhatsApp said that the larger group chat is being slowly rolled out, while emoji reactions and increased file size limits are available immediately in the current version of the app. Meta Platforms said it expects more emojis to be rolled out over the next week.
