WhatsApp Quick Reactions will start rolling out today, finally seeing the instant messaging platform catch up with rivals such as Telegram, productivity apps such as Slack, and even sister company Instagram. The feature will allow users to react to messages with an emoji, and in the initial stage, there will be six – like, love, laugh, surprise, sad, and thanks – though in the future all emojis will be available, testing has tipped.
The Meta-owned brand made the announcement via a Instagram story by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had last month teased the feature as coming soon in the company’s big reveal about WhatsApp Communities. As we mentioned, there will initially only be six reactions, something Zuckerberg also highlighted in his story – seen below.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram Story announcing the feature’s rollout
Photo Credit: Instagram/ Mark Zuckerberg
A future update however, may just allow WhatsApp Quick Reactions users to utilise any emoji, GIF, or sticker in the messenger, a recent report tipped citing evidence in a development build.