WhatsApp has officially introduced channels. They will become an easy way to follow important news from people and organizations without leaving the messenger.
Image: WhatsApp
Channels will be displayed separately from chats and communities on the new "Current" tab, where the status will also move.
Channel administrators will be able to post messages, photos, videos, stickers and polls, while subscribers will only be able to view content.
To find the right channels, WhatsApp will have a special catalog — with news from local government agencies, content about sports, hobbies and much more.
It will be possible to switch to the desired channel through a catalog search or by means of an invitation sent in a chat, email or published online.
The administrator's phone number and profile photo will not be visible to subscribers, and subscribers' phone numbers will be hidden from everyone in the channel, including administrators. Also, no one will see which channels you are subscribed to.
Administrators will be able to prohibit taking screenshots when viewing the channel and forwarding content from it. They will also be able to determine who is allowed to subscribe to their channels.
For now, the channel's publication history will be stored on servers for no more than 30 days. Later it will be possible to remove it from subscribers' devices even earlier.
Since the channels are intended for a wide audience, they are not protected by end-to-end encryption by default, the developers added.
In the future, WhatsApp plans to give administrators the opportunity to earn on their channels and promote certain channels in the catalog in order to attract more attention to them.
The channels will appear in different countries "in the coming months."
