WhatsApp’s feature set has vastly expanded over the past couple of years or so. Whether it is with features likeCommunities, Channels, or the ability to sharehigh-resolution pictures and videosin a Status update, the chat app is constantly looking to get better. However, some basic functionalities, like polls, are missing fromChannels. We’ve known that the company has been working onbringing polls to Channelsfor over two months now, and it’s now finally making its way to the beta channel.
Starting with WhatsApp beta for Androidversion 2.24.2.11, some beta testers have been able to find the polls option inside Channels, according toWABetaInfo. As with the early iteration of Channel polls, the option exists within the chat attachment page (paper clip icon). However, the polls icon appears to be of a different color this time around — green instead of yellow.
WABetaInfo was down for maintenance at the time of this writing, so we’re linking to an archived version of their site instead.
This color change appears to be the only difference between the two implementations of Channel polls. The feature should work similarly to polls shared in a 1-1 or group conversation, as revealed during the early stages of its development. Furthermore, all votes are supposedly anonymized, so the creator of the poll will never know how an individual has voted. As an additional safety measure, creators won’t know who has voted in the poll, either.
The feature’s appearance on the beta channel after going through the developmental stages is good news. However, there’s no guarantee that you’ll find it even with this beta new version of WhatsApp for Android. But it shouldn’t be long until Channel polls roll onto the stable channel of the Meta-owned chat app.
Meanwhile, another WhatsApp beta update (v2.24.2.12) has already gone live via the Play Store, per a separateWABetaInforeport. But this doesn’t appear to be a major update, only focusing on remedying a bug. More specifically, users should now be able to see thumbnails of Status updates next to the contact’s name, which is a long-supported feature, but was broken following a beta update last week.
The bug in question
Although we’re only on day 13 of 2024, WhatsApp developers have already sent out a handful of beta updates to testers. After being present on iOS for a while, beta users on Android were finally able to try outadvanced text formatting optionson the app this week. We also learned that the company is working on letting users change the default green theme of WhatsApp, albeitonly on iOS for now. Going by the past couple of weeks, this year could be busier than ever for one of the most popularmessaging appsin the world.
