WhatsApp announces larger groups, larger file transfers

In a blog post, WhatsApp has announced that it has released emoji reactions on the messaging app, and transfers of files more than 20x larger than the current capacity. It is also rolling out software to allow for larger groups.

Emoji reactions, wherein users can react to a particular message with a set of emojis, were first introduced by its parent company Facebook in 2015, and have since become ubiquitous across social media platforms. According to the blog post, the feature is finally available on WhatsApp in the latest software update.

This new update also comes with the ability to drastically increase the size of files that can be shared on a WhatsApp chat from the current limit of 100 MB to 2 GB. These file transfers will be protected by end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp believes that this new limit "will be helpful for collaboration among small businesses and school groups."

The blog post also mentioned a new, highly requested feature in development.

According to WhatsApp, "one of the top requests" they've consistently received is to increase the number of people that can be added to a chat. In response, the company has announced an attempt to add 512 members to a single group chat. The current limit stands at 256.