WhatsApp is rolling message reactions out to everyone starting right now

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WhatsApp message thread on iPhone X
WhatsApp message thread on iPhone X (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz/iMore)

What you need to know

  • WhatsApp is rolling out a new reactions feature to all users now.
  • Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the rollout via Facebook.
  • People can react to messages with one of three emojis right now. More are likely to be added in the future.

After weeks of beta testing, WhatsApp is finally rolling new message reactions out to everyone starting today.

We've seen various reports of reactions being tested in beta form of late but now the feature is coming to everyone according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He announced the news via a post to Facebook.

Zuckerberg Whatsapp Reactions Announcement

Zuckerberg Whatsapp Reactions Announcement (Image credit: iMore)

Message reactions will be available in both one-on-one and group chats and will allow people to add a reaction rather than posting a full-on reply. That means that reactions won't clog the chat up — instead, emojis will appear beneath the message that was reacted to. Right now there is just a handful of emojis available for people to choose from but that is likely to increase in the future.

Wabetainfo Whatsapp Message Reactions

Wabetainfo Whatsapp Message Reactions (Image credit: WABetaInfo)

If you aren't seeing the option to react to a message yet — press and hold on one to see the option to react — don't panic. It's likely to take some time for the feature to roll out to everyone.

WhatsApp is currently one of the best instant messaging apps and is a real boon for people who need to stay in touch with people on other platforms, especially Android.

It doesn't appear that an actual app update is required to get this new reaction feature up and running, but be sure to check the App Store to make sure you're running the latest version regardless. Don't yet have WhatsApp installed? You can download it for free right now.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.