WhatsApp is rolling out a new update through the Google Play Beta Program, bringing the version up to 2.23.19.6.
What’s new in this update? WhatsApp is rolling out a general group chat for communities, and it’s available to some beta testers!
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | General group – communities |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.19.6 is marked as a compatible update, but some users may be able to get the same feature by installing one of the following updates: 2.23.18.21, 2.23.19.3, 2.23.19.4, 2.23.19.5. |
| I’ve installed this update but I don’t have this feature. Why? | This feature is available to some beta testers, and it is rolling out to more users over the coming days. |
| Thanks: | Swakshan, for collaborating, testing, and reporting. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.19.4: what’s new? WhatsApp is widely rolling out a feature to react to channel updates! |
GENERAL GROUP
After releasing the ability to edit messages within community announcement groups with the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.18.16 update and a feature to allow community admins to decide who can add new members to communities thanks to the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.18.20 update, WhatsApp keeps working on new features to improve the user experience while using communities. In particular, thanks to the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.19.6 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, we discovered that WhatsApp is exploring new ways to improve communication between community members by introducing a general group chat feature!
As you can see in the attached screenshot, this is a new group for communities that allows community members to talk with each other. When someone joins a community, they may automatically be added to the general group chat, just like it already happens with the community announcement group. To find out if this feature is already available for your WhatsApp account, you need to create a new community. In that case, you should find the general group chat immediately after the community creation. This means that the feature is only enabled for new communities, and there is no plan to bring the same automatic group to old communities. Note that the maximum capacity for this group is still 1024. In addition, it seems that this group is not protected by the phone number privacy option and its participants list is not hidden.
In our opinion, this is a really interesting feature. When someone joins a new community, it can be complicated to guess how to start with the new community and which groups to join. Thanks to the general chat, new community members can talk to other people and learn how the community and its groups work. It’s important to note that if you create a new community and you do not like the general group chat, it’s possible to remove it from the community by opening the community info screen, released with the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.17.6 update.
The general group chat for communities is available to some beta testers that install the latest updates of WhatsApp beta for Android from the Google Play Store, and it is rolling out to even more people over the coming days.
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