WhatsApp new features: Demote as Admin, group video calls and more

WhatsApp is definitely a popular instant messaging platform across the world. The Facebook-owned platform has over 1.5 million monthly active users all over the world. In order to give them a good user experience, the company rolls out new features via updates. Recently, we got to see WhatsApp hit the tech headlines almost every day as it rolled out new features and capabilities to the users regularly.

Over the past few days, several new features were added to the messaging platform. Some of these features were available in the beta version for testing in the past. After successful testing, these features have made their way into the stable version of the app.

Let's take a look at the WhatsApp features those were added to the iOS and Android version of the apps in the past few days from here.

Demote as Admin

This feature already exists on the iOS and web versions of the app. It was in the beta phase on Android. The Demote as Admin feature lets an existing group admin dismiss or demote another admin to a normal group member.

Media visibility feature

The Android beta version 2.18.159 has received a new feature called Media Visibility. This feature lets you show or hide the media content you receive on WhatsApp in the gallery. This feature was already available in the iOS version of the app. You can disable the option 'Show media in Gallery' from the WhatsApp settings menu to stop downloaded media content to be stored in the gallery. However, the content will be available in the WhatsApp Images folder on file manager app.

Group video and audio calls support

After many rumors and speculations, we saw reports suggesting that select Android and iOS users have received the group video calling feature. This feature is said to let you add up to four members to an ongoing video call. Also, the group audio calls feature has been spotted on the iOS version of the app.

Request Account Info

The iOS version of WhatsApp 2.18.60 has the received the Request Account Info feature, which lets you download all your account info and settings in a single click.

Select All option

WhatsApp's Android users have received a new Select All option, which lets you easily market all the new messages as read or archive them with a single tap.

New contact

The Media Visibility feature comes with another one called New Contact shortcut. This lets you add a contact quickly without leaving the app. You can do so by pressing the new message button. You can find it next to the New Group option. Already, it is available for the iPhone users.

Group Description

The group description feature lets the admin add a small group info describing the purpose of the group.

Restrict Group

The restricted group feature will let the admin restrict the members of the group from sending any text messages, multimedia files or documents.