WhatsApp is about to get a new feature that every user wants

WhatsApp has had a terrible year so far, dominated by news detailing the new privacy policy update that forced users to agree to share more data with Facebook. That was the original plan for the terms of service change, but Facebook had to postpone the update by several months to deal with the massive backlash. Resistance from lawmakers then forced Facebook not to take any action against the people who did not agree to the terms of service. Initially, Facebook had planned to cripple the experience to the point where WhatsApp would be unusable. All the while, Facebook insisted that WhatsApp would not lose the end-to-end encryption that protects all chats and calls by default, but it never really explained why it needs that extra data from WhatsApp users. We know it’s for optional e-commerce features that people might use inside the app, but all users have to accept the changes even if they do not plan to talk to businesses.

That’s to say that whenever WhatsApp news came up this year, it was mostly about user privacy. But Facebook has been working on new features for the world’s most popular chat application, beyond the new privacy policy. Rather than announce the massive update planned for WhatsApp via a blog post or press event, Facebook went in a surprising direction when it confirmed that the feature many WhatsApp users want most is coming soon.