Best WhatsApp features added in July 2024

Select favorite chats and calls

WhatsApp already allows pinning chats for quick access, but the convenience doesn’t extend to the Calls tab. This month, the glaring issue was fixed with a new Favorites filter. While your pinned chats stay visible in the default Chats tab view, you can use this new filter to see different (or even the same) chats with people you contact frequently.

These favorites are also pinned atop your call log in the Calls tab, with quick shortcuts for voice and video calling. This saves you a few taps by accessing the calling shortcuts underneath the expanded profile picture thumbnail.

You should see a new Add to Favorites option in the Calls tab, which speeds up initial setup with bulk selection, but otherwise, the option is also available in the Contact info/Group info page for individual and group chats.

Animated emoji coming soon

In the beta version, emoji just got a lot more interesting because WhatsApp usually allows sending reactions to messages or individual emoji as stickers. This month, WABetaInfo spotted the app testing new animated stickers styled to resemble a handful of common emojis.

The implementation relies on the Lottie Library to ensure performance isn’t sacrificed for this visual attribute. Moreover, the app defaults to the static version if an animated version isn’t available, so it might be a while before we get to try it too.

WhatsApp isn’t a trendsetter in using Lottie for animated emoji stickers, and the feature has been available on rival platforms like Telegram. However, a delay is better than improper implementation.