WhatsApp: reactions finally reach the messaging app

It seems like years have passed since we started hearing the first details about this feature. It’s about WhatsApp reactions, and it was Mark Zuckerberg himself who announced its launch from a Facebook post.

With the new reactions, you will be able to respond to messages just as we could already do from Facebook Messenger or Instagram. In both services, we can select the emoji that we like the most and assign it to a specific message. In this way, there is no need to mediate a word with the other person to let them know how that message makes us feel, or if we have already seen it.

Thus, Meta has launched WhatsApp reactions for all devices starting today. However, this does not mean that you can use it right away. It may take up to several days for the feature to activate for your device, so please be patient.

What do we know about WhatsApp reactions?

Until now, all the information we knew about this feature came from leaks and beta reviews. For this reason, we know that you can react with up to six different emojis within WhatsApp. These are the classic heart emoji, thumbs up, laughing, surprised, crying emoji, and joined hands that can mean a thank you, or also a prayer.

It is expected that in the future WhatsApp will allow users to react with any desired emoji. The company is already working on this proposal. However, it seems that for now, we will have to settle for the aforementioned.

From the official WhatsApp page for questions and answers, the company has already included a tutorial for us to learn how to use this feature. In addition, they also leave us some points to take into account when we make use of them.

How reactions are used

Making use of reactions on WhatsApp is quite simple. First, make sure you have updated your app to the latest version available on the iOS App Store; or in the Android Play Store. Once you have everything ready, you just have to do the following:

1. Go to WhatsApp.
2. Open any conversation in which you want to test the feature.
3. Long press on a received message.
4. Now, you will see a small row of emojis. Select your favorite.
5. Done, now you can see a reaction next to the message you have chosen.

As it happens on Instagram, you will have the possibility to change your reactions to different ones by pressing the same message for a long time and making the modification. Or, by pressing the reaction to delete it.

WhatsApp has been including a multitude of features in recent months. In fact, it recently included a new feature that allows us to call up to 32 participants in the same voice call. In addition, we have the integration of Communities, visual and performance improvements for voice messages, and many other things.

Of course, stay tuned to the news if you want to know more about WhatsApp in the future. This function is already available for iPhone and Android, so run and update your application to be able to enjoy all the new features.