The messaging app, WhatsApp is constantly working on improving and adding features that will make it more user friendly. Changing the way we use instant messaging apps, the latest feature from WhatsApp is called Channels, and its purpose is mainly for one-to-many broadcasts rather than conversation.
The company says the feature is a private way to follow what matters, including local names and sports updates.
A channel is simply a Twitter feed, minus all the metrics and replies. WhatsApp is hopping on the advantage that most of the governments, transit agencies, brands, and others looking for a new (and non-Twitter) place to share their most important updates and sees Channels as a drop-in replacement.
You are able to use channels as a creator tool to a certain extent. It is a perfect feature for those for those with an audience to “send text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls,” according to WhatsApp’s launch blog post. The company is also planning on adding a payment and other monetization services into Channels as well. You are able to locate channels by searching for them in WhatsApp or by browsing in a newly created directory and see their most recent updates in the Status section of the app.
With privacy being the key part of the experience, WhatsApp says channel admin information isn’t shared and the app only stores 30 days’ worth of a channel’s history. Admins are even able to block screenshots and forwards, making sure that what’s in the channel stays in the channel. Channels aren’t end-to-end encrypted, though; they’re treated more like your messages with businesses, which are also not totally private.
Other apps have however had this feature for a while now. Telegram has had a similar feature, also called Channels and also meant for one-to-many broadcasts, for years. Instagram has a similar feature, too, called broadcast channels. And it actually makes sense to bring this kind of information into WhatsApp; getting air quality updates and train statuses feels more natural in a messaging app than intermingled with everything else on Twitter.
Main Image: The Verge
