The smartphone messaging app, WhatsApp, has been around for over 10 years now. It’s still very popular – particularly for sending messages to lots of people at once – but it was starting to show its age. Until the latest update, that it…
To be honest, one of the things I like about WhatsApp is that it’s simple. It isn’t full of annoying bells and whistles. But there were a few things it couldn’t do that were starting to niggle just a little bit. They’ve sorted that out in the most recent update, though (which you might or might not have got yet – don’t worry if you haven’t!).
There are two changes that I think are long overdue, and that you might notice if you use the app:
They’ve finally brought in “reactions“. If you use Facebook or Facebook Messenger, you’ll be used to these. They let you respond to a message with a little “thumbs up”, “heart”, “shocked”, “crying”, etc, rather than replying with your own message. Something like this:
To react to a message, you tap and hold on it and then choose your reaction. You might wonder why that’s helpful – after all, you could just send a reply with an emoji in if you didn’t want to write a full message. But it makes a massive difference in a big group chat. Lots of people can respond to a message without filling up the chat with pages and pages of “Yep”s and “thumbs up” emojis.
The other big difference is that they’ve upped the size limit on files you can share through the app – from 100 MB all the way up to 2 GB! That’s a massive change, and it means you can now send higher-quality photos and video clips if you like.
With these two changes, you can now do as much with WhatsApp as you can with Facebook Messenger, but it’s still a cleaner and simpler app to use. All good, I reckon.
A few questions you might have about the Windows courses…
…along with the answers of course:
Is there a time limit on when I have to start my course?
No – you can start straight away or leave it till later. Once you’re enrolled in a course you have complete access for as long as the course is online (at least 3 years), so you can join now and then start it whenever you like. And that means there’s nothing to stop you signing up to the Windows 11 course now even if your computer hasn’t upgraded yet – your course will be waiting for you when you’re ready to start!
Do I have to work through it at set times?
No – it’s not like an evening class in that way. You can work through each part or “lesson” whenever it suits you. Do it in the evenings, the mornings or even the middle of the night if you like! You can get halfway through a lesson, stop there and carry on again next time from wherever you got to – you’re in control.
Can I follow the course on a different device – e.g. a tablet?
Yes – you can use any PC, laptop or tablet, so long as it’s connected to the internet. You could even use a smartphone if you like, but you might find everything a bit small on a phone screen. In fact you can even use two different devices. The course will keep track of where you’re up to – so you can sign in to your account from anywhere.
The course suggests things for you to practice as you go, though – so even if you watch the videos on a tablet, it’s best to have your PC or laptop close at hand to try things out.
Can I join any time?
No – the courses are only open to new members until Wednesday 1st June – that’s the day before the Jubilee long weekend. After that we’ll be closing enrolment so you won’t be able to join – best get in before then if you think it might help you.
You can read the full details about each of the courses (including how to join and the rather unusual guarantee) here – why not have a look at Windows 11 Made Simple or Windows 10 Made Simple.