WhatsApp introduces “Updates” tab – similar to Telegram channels

• Like Telegram, WhatsApp introduces channels that you can subscribe to.
• You can find these in a new section called “Updates”.
• The status reports from your friends will also be received there in the future.

With its channels (in German: channels), Messenger Telegram offers you the opportunity to “send public messages to a large audience”. Celebrities and politicians in particular make use of this – for example the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Now WhatsApp is apparently following suit and also offers you the opportunity to create a channel.

The fan blog WABetaInfo discovered a corresponding function in the beta version 2.23.8.6. There, the channels are not accessible via the chat list. To create a channel or read a message from a subscribed channel, you must switch to the new “Updates” tab instead.

Status becomes Updates

Behind this is the former “Status” tab, the new name is intended to symbolize that you will not only find status reports from your friends here, but also the newly introduced channels.

Also interesting…

It is still unclear whether there will also be opportunities for interaction via the channels. As already mentioned, the feature is still in an early stage of development. Other changes, however, are already further. WhatsApp recently released a view on Android tablets that not everyone likes. A new navigation bar for Android phones will follow soon.