WhatsApp Beta (UWP) for Windows 11 receives another significant update, this time with support for two new features: reactions and a full-fledged context menu (right-click menu).
As you’re probably aware, WhatsApp Beta (UWP) is built on modern Windows 11 principles and employs WinUI. Unlike the original desktop app, which is essentially a web wrapper, WhatsApp UWP provides a significantly improved user experience and deeper integration with the operating system.
Earlier this year, Facebook’s parent company Meta announced a slew of new features for the messaging app. On Android, WhatsApp was recently updated with emoji reactions, faster file transfer limits, and other enhancements. Similar enhancements are now on their way to the Windows 11 version.
The latest update adds emoji reactions, allowing you to respond to messages in a fun and friendly manner. This feature is similar to the reactions found in the Facebook Messenger app. However, it is currently limited in that you can only express yourself with a few emotions.
You can, for example, respond to messages with a surprise thumbs up, heart, laughter, tears, or the folded hands emoji. WhatsApp has confirmed that it intends to expand the emotions as well as add support for new skin tones. These new reactions and tones will be included in a future update.
Thankfully, emoji reactions aren’t the only new feature coming to the messaging app. Facebook is also working to improve WhatsApp’s context menu by including a modern context menu for selecting text in chats.
As shown in the screenshot above, you can now select texts and perform basic text formatting. You can, for example, convert text to preformatted (which allows you to easily share code), italics, bold, strikethrough, and more.
It is also possible to select text and then select Copy, Cut, Paste, Undo, or Select.
An official change is not yet available, but WhatsApp appears to be getting the ability to add up to 512 people. This update is available now from the Microsoft Store.
Aside from the aforementioned features, WhatsApp UWP has received a number of enhancements, including support for limited one-time view for media shares, improved dark mode support, and more.
