Author Archives: Christine

Another interesting new Beta version of WhatsApp Messenger for Android has been released and took everyone by surprise. In fact this new version 2.12.312 of WhatsApp brings a new feature (that to be honest is not so new since it is already available for Telegram users), that clearly needs to be completed. We are confident that WhatsApp developer are already working hard on it and that we will have soon another update available.

As anticipated in the title, we are talking about the new option which makes possible to have previews for shared links. Interesting, isn’t it? But let’s see how this new feature works. After typing a URL, a small preview window will pop up, showing the title of the page you want to share with one of your contacts, an image, and the URL.

Unfortunately for the moment this feature works only in one direction, as only the senders will have the preview available. In fact the recipients won’t be able to see the previews of the URL even if they use this latest updated version of WhatsApp Messenger. Furthermore, this kind of previews are currently available only for standard URL (so, if you were thinking to use it to share image links, you better find another way, at least for the moment), and are currently designed for small snippets.

But if you are curious and you want to give it a try, you can download the APK from the official website: http://www.whatsapp.com/android/. As we were saying above, this is certainly just a small part of a bigger plan which is still in progress, so let’s wait and see what the developers are preparing for WhatsApp users. For sure during the last few days we have seen a lot of changes going on: the integration with Google Translate (for Android Marshmallow OS), the 3D Touch support (for iPhone) and much more. And it won’t end here.

After the many beta versions released during the last few weeks, finally Windows Phone users can now download a stable version of WhatsApp which contains several and much awaited updates. This new version is already available on the Windows Store and, as usual, the changes that have been introduced have already been tested by users who have tried the beta versions.

But what changes exactly for Windows Phone users with this new version 2.12.170? First of all you will notice that this new version introduces more emoji, including, obviously, the popular middle finger which until now was available only for Android and iOS users. But why the emoji are so important? That’s a good question.

The developers of any social media, and here we are talking not only about WhatsApp, know that nowadays they can not afford to overlook the importance of emoji, because they have become a very important tool to express our moods and feeling, especially when it comes to instant messaging communication. And WhatsApp, with over 900 million active users, well knows the needs of its subscribers.

Coming back to WhatsApp for Windows Phone, in addition to more emoji, version 2.12.170 will make it faster to find messages, contacts and chats since it brings a better search feature.  Moreover, new wallpapers will be available together with in-app audio notifications. Quite interesting, isn’t it?

And how can you download version 2.12.170? As we said above, this stable version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone is already available on the Windows Store, where you can easily find it for free. So, are you thinking to upgrade your device with version 2.12.170? Maybe you need to know that this last version of WhatsApp Messenger for Windows Phone should work with all devices running Windows Phone 8 and up. So be sure that you own a compatible device. After that, enjoy your favourite instant messaging app.

A new feature is available for those who use WhatsApp with Marshmallow, the latest Android OS, and it’s quite a useful one. With this new option you can use Google Translate to convert your messages into foreign languages, and it works inside Android apps but not only. In fact the feature is available also within other apps such as TripAdvisor and LinkedIn.

According to Google, the incredible number of 100 billion words a day are translated on Google Translate by more than 500 million people. So in January was released “Conversation Mode“, which allows iOS and Android users to have immediately available on their screen a written translation of what they are saying. And that’s not all. In fact using Word Lens you can have translated into 36 languages a text which you have photographed. Currently, this tool can translate English to and from German, Italian, French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Talking about the feature just released, in a blog post Barak Turovsky (Product Lead of Google Translate) explains the aim of this last update: “We face communication barriers every day. Switching back and forth between apps and screens to translate shouldn’t be another one. We’ve heard your feedback, and have worked with the Android team to make translating text, chats, and other app content a whole lot easier. Beginning this week, you’ll be able to translate in 90 languages right from within some of your favorite apps like TripAdvisor, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. This update works on any device running the newest version of Android’s operating system (Android 6.0, Marshmallow). To get started, you first need to have the Translate app downloaded on your Android phone. From there, just go to an app, like TripAdvisor or LinkedIn, and highlight and select the text you want to translate. This feature is already enabled in apps that use Android text selection behavior. Developers who created custom text selection behavior can also easily add the new feature.”

But what changes with Android Marshmallow? The first thing to know is that it will replace Lollipop. Also, Marshmallow will support Google’s mobile wallet, which will make it easier for users to set permissions for apps.

Big news are coming for those who use WhatsApp with iPhone 6s and iPhone 6sPlus smartphones: the latest beta will introduce support for 3D Touch. This is what we found out from a tweet of a German developer which is currently testing a new version of the popular instant messaging app. For the moment, the support for this new feature is rather limited: in fact it is active on the application icon on the main screen and allows you to quickly write a message, an instant access to the settings, and to “Star” a message.

Today we are not yet able to tell you if in the final version of the application you will be able to use the 3D Touch support even within your chats, or to Peek and Pop. We have just to wait and see what happens. But when this new version of WhatsApp for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be released? It seems that the update that introduces the 3D Touch support should arrive only after the release of the stable version of iOS 9.1, and everything suggests that it should happen soon.

But if WhatsApp for iPhone is going to change a lot with the 3D support, what’s changing in the Android platform? Just yesterday we talked about the new feature which finally officially integrates Google Drive into WhatsApp (at the moment available only for Android users), enabling the backup of conversations, photos and videos. Today we have news about a new Beta version 2.12.302.

What does it bring? Really not much, mainly some bug fixes and improvements. To install this new 2.12.302 Beta version you have to follow the standard procedure, that is: 1)  download the APK file from WhatsApp website (whatsapp.com/android); 2) you need to enable the “Unknown Sources” (going to Settings > Applications); 3) now you have to uninstall WhatsApp from your Android device; 4) at this point you can go where you have saved the 2.12.302 APK file and tap on it to launch the installation.

Are you a WhatsApp user? Do you use it on an Android device? Well, today there are great news for you. The feature that we were all waiting for is finally arrived. Google Drive has been officially integrated into this popular instant messaging service, to enable the backup of conversations, photos and videos. The announcement was made directly by Google through its own blog, confirming WhatsApp users that the service has already been integrated into the app, but it may take several months before it is available on all smartphones. This is the full message released by Scott Johnston, Google’s Director of Product Management:

” Whether it’s recounting a story, watching a video, or enjoying photos with family and friends, our memories help us reconnect with what’s really important. And every month, nearly a billion people use WhatsApp to do just that. Of course: you don’t want your memories stuck on your phone. (What if something happens?!) So starting today, WhatsApp for Android lets you create a private backup of your chat history, voice messages, photos, and videos in Google Drive. And once you do, you can restore everything on a new device with just a couple taps. The new backup feature is rolling out over the next few months, so keep an eye on your WhatsApp settings to see if it’s available. In the meantime, please visit our Help Center if you have questions about today’s update. And check out our developer site if you’d like to integrate your app with Google Drive.”

So now we’ll finally be sure not to lose our chats or our most important files. Of course those who use WhatsApp with other devices (for example Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10) will be quite disappointed, but unfortunately this is a matter of numbers. In fact, according to a recent survey published by Global Web Index, it seems that 73% of WhatsApp users access the app through Android. But we are sure that WhatsApp developers are already working to provide this useful feature to all of WhatsApp users.

A new version of WhatsApp is now available for iOS users, and it introduces a great (and desired) feature. What changes? This new version 2.12.7 for iOS finally adds a new section to WhatsApp which will surely help users to immediately pinpoint important messages. You can find this new, practical, feature under the profile and it’s called “Starred Messages“.

Using this new function it is now possible to bookmark any text message, photo or video and then find them in the new “Starred Messages” section. In this way iOS users will be able to access their bookmarked contents quickly. This is quite a useful function, and we are sure that it will be really appreciated. Don’t forget that a lot of people use WhatsApp for their job, so this feature can help a lot the management of our instant messaging communication.

But how does it work? Don’t panic. As often happens with WhatsApp, it works in a very simple way. In fact, when you need to “Star” a message, you just have to do two things: tap and hold it. With this action the message will be saved in the new “Starred Messages” section. Yes, as simple as that. In addition, it’s quite important to note that this feature works also for WhatsApp Groups. You can find this new version 2.12.7 ready to be downloaded on the App Store.

And what about users who access WhatsApp using Android or Windows Phone devices? This is an obvious curiosity considering that Android users are the majority. For once, they have to wait a little bit, but we are sure that WhatsApp developers are not neglecting users of those platforms and that they will enjoy this new feature soon. In the meantime, during the last few months, we have seen that many new Beta versions for Android, BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone or other platform have been released, and certainly many others are coming.

Another week, another update. The 900 million monthly active users of WhatsApp (and the number keeps on growing on a daily basis) are surely happy to notice that, little by little, their beloved instant messaging app is changing, actually improving, with regular and frequent updates.

Of course those who use WhatsApp on Android devices are luckier, since they benefit of the improvements more often, but also iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10 or Symbian users usually don’t have to wait too long to have their version of WhatsApp updated. In the last few weeks for all of these platforms a new beta was made available and today we’ll talk about the new Beta version 2.12.152 for Windows Phone, that has just been released.

So, what changes? You will immediately notice the first change as soon as you open WhatsApp, because it will not be launched as fast as before.You may think this has not been an improvement indeed, but there is a simple explanation for this choice: developers have thought about users who own devices that support only 512 of RAM. Then, another little change has been introduced in the Search page. In fact with this new beta you will find out that now there are numbers that show the number of matches in contacts and chats.

So, now that we’ve examined what changes with this version 2.12.152 of WhatsApp for Windows Phone,  let’s see togheter how you can install it on your device. As usual, it’s not that difficult. First of all remember that, being a Beta, you won’t find it on the Windows Phone Store. In fact on the Store you can find only the stable versions of the app. So, if you want to install this new Beta version on your device, you first have to register to the beta testing program. Only after your registration you will be able to download the new beta.