WhatsApp has reportedly activated the beta version of the feature where you can reply to an individual in a group chat privately. WABetaInfo chanced upon this while testing out WhatsApp beta for Android v2.18.335. The feature has been talked about for a long time. It may take a little more time to roll out the feature to all users.
Even at the beta level, its only available on Android now; the iOS users have to wait till WhatsApp introduces the feature on that platform as well.
Once the notification of a message from someone in a chat group is displayed, the user can tap on it to reveal the ‘private reply’ option and as mentioned, this can be done without any other member within the chat coming to know of it.
This addition to the features already available to a few people on WhatsApp on Android and is expected to be rolled out eventually to iOS soon and then to all users by December, including iOS users.
WABetaInfo has stated that this feature will also work even on old chat sessions in the group. While some may see it as a distraction, in the end it may boil down to how the users make use of the feature to their benefit without offending the other members in the group.
The last special feature WhatsApp had introduced was the use of stickers on its messaging service and this again has been made available to both Android and iOS device users. And there is the permission to use stickers from third parties also apart from the one made available within the app. The update for this is likely to be made shortly, as per reports. The apps with the stickers exclusively developed for use in WhatsApp messaging may start appearing on the respective stores, Google Play Store and Apple app Store.