WhatsApp Update Supports Picture-in-Picture Mode For Android 8.0

WhatsApp has pushed-out an update to Android users that includes support for picture-in-picture.

The Facebook-owned messenger has been testing the functionality since July, but had not revealed when users could expect to see the feature drop.

Picture-in-picture, which minimises a smartphone app into a small window that floats over the top of the operating system and can be used while another app runs fullscreen, is one of the headline new features of Android 8.0 Oreo.

WhatsApp version 2.17.323 supports picture-in-picture on any smartphone running Android 8.0 Oreo.

When users are in a video call, tapping the back button will continue the video call in a picture-in-picture window.

WhatsApp users can continue the video chat while browsing other conversations within WhatsApp, or launch another app.

This should probably extremely useful for those who regularly use WhatsApp video calls. The update follows the return of text-based statuses earlier this summer.

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Major WhatsApp Update For Business Solutions Coming Soon

WhatsApp is introducing a set of significant features designed for businesses and also for profit making. WhatsApp is creating a platform which makes it easier and more effective for businesses, organization and companies to communicate with regular users.

Key features of the upcoming WhatsApp update

1. Effective communication between regular users and businesses.

2. Ability to place orders and also receive updates from businesses.


WhatsApp is currently testing these features on its Business app, which has been built for small companies. It also reveals that it is working on “an enterprise solution for bigger companies operating at a large scale with a global base of customers”.

According to the Wall Street Journal, WhatsApp intends to charge businesses later in the future. However, the WhatsApp Business App is free to use as at the time of writing this post.

“Over 1 billion people use WhatsApp every day to stay connected with their family and friends, and over time, more people are using the app to communicate with businesses they care about too,” said WhatsApp in a blog post.

“In fact, many connections are already taking place every day, whether it's someone placing an order with a local bakery or looking at new styles from a clothing store. But the way this happens now on WhatsApp is pretty rudimentary.”

“[Bigger companies] will be able to use our solutions to provide customers with useful notifications like flight times, delivery confirmations, and other updates.”

WhatsApp Business accounts are verified by a green badge with a white tick.

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WhatsApp Now Verifies Business Account With Green Badge

WhatsApp has introduced a new feature for verified business accounts. This feature makes it easier for consumers and businesses to communicate with each other. A major difference noticed is the green badge with a white tick which helps to didtinguish them from regular accounts.

A yellow chat bubble also appears inside conversations between regular and verified accounts, to confirm you’re talking to a business firm.

“This chat is with a verified business account,” reads the message inside the bubble, as spotted by WABetaInfo . “Tap for more info.”

If a business account in WhatsApp is unverified, the green badge will be missing and a message is being displayed so as to notify you.

WhatsApp also emphasized as quoted below

"If you already have a business's phone number saved in your address book, the name you will see is the name you have saved in your address book,"

“If you don't have a business's phone number saved in your address book, the name you will see is the name the business has chosen for themselves.”

Please note also that you are free to block companies if you are being worried about getting spammed and the likes. Just open the conversation, tap the menu button, select More and hit Block.

Verified accounts are currently limited to a “small number of businesses”, but they’re likely to roll out a lot more widely in the very near future

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WhatsApp For Web Now Supports ‘Status’ Feature

For those who enjoy the Status feature of WhatsApp, you’ll be pleased to know that WhatsApp for web now supports the feature as well. However it seems that this particular feature is limited to just the viewing of status, as opposed to uploading status updates to the web version of WhatsApp, which is a bit of a pity but perhaps that functionality could come at a later date.

Just like the mobile version, the status updates will stay live and active for 24 hours, after which they will disappear. 

Clicking on the icon will take users to a different window where all available statuses can be viewed. Whether or not you actually use this feature is another story, but at least the option is there for those who do.

Note that this seems to be only available for the web version of WhatsApp, so for those who use the desktop app it will probably come at a later date.

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WhatsApp Update To Feature Peer-to-Peer Mobile Payments

WhatsApp plans to introduce peer-to-peer payments to its iOS and Android chat app, screenshots unearthed in the latest beta have revealed.

WhatsApp Payments was first spotted in the 2.17.295 beta version of the Android version of the Facebook-owned chat app.

It appears the upcoming feature will enable WhatsApp users to wirelessly transfer money within the messenger.

That promises to make it much easier to transfer money between friends and family, which could prove to be costly for some.

Facebook, which bought WhatsApp for a record $19 billion back in February 2014, has already added a peer-to-peer payment solution to its Messenger chat app.

Apple is set to introduce the ability to send money via Apple Pay within its iMessage chat service with the launch of iOS 11 this autumn.

The welcome screen for WhatsApp Payments – which has been unearthed from the latest beta build – says the service allows for “bank to bank transfer with UPI” and mentions that users will need to accept WhatsApp Payments’ Privacy Policy and Terms before sending any money.

WhatsApp recently announced that it had passed one billion daily active users.

The hugely-successful chat app was originally launched in 2009 by ex-Yahoo! employees Brian Acton and Jan Koum.

The service has gone from strength to strength, especially since the Facebook acquisition in 2014

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