Since commencing the broader rollout of WhatsApp Channels last year, the Meta-owned chat app has been working on a couple of features for this one-to-many messaging feature. A total of four new channel-related features wereannounced last month, some of which were alreadybeing testedin beta versions of the app in the months before. Similarly, the company has also been working on letting people sharechannel posts via status updatesfor a while now. WhatsApp is now widely rolling out this simple sharing functionality to its users.
Based on my brief testing, the ability to share a channel update as a status is available across both Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp. With this in mind, this feature has likely been available for a few days now, although WhatsApp made the announcement on itsofficial channel pagea couple of days ago. It’s worth clarifying that users have been able to share channel posts within individual or group chats for a while now, and this change pertains to sharing channel posts within status updates.
AnFAQ pageset up by WhatsApp explains how a Channel update can be posted to the user’s Status page across Android, iOS, and Web/desktop apps. On Android, one simply needs to long-press the post they want to share and tap the right-facing arrow on the top right of the screen as illustrated below. Users will then make it to theForward toscreen, with Status appearing on top, followed by people you’ve frequently contacted, and recent chats.
This means users can share the channel post on their status page and with individual contacts or groups at the same time. Despite the aforementioned FAQ page claiming this feature has made it to WhatsApp Web, that currently doesn’t appear to be the case. As of right now, users can only share channel posts with groups or contacts on the stable version of WhatsApp Web, though that could change soon.
Features like Channels are crucial for WhatsApp’s development as it tries to keep pace withrival messaging apps. The app has certainly come a long way since its acquisition by Meta/Facebookback in 2014, with many predicting an early demise of the beloved messaging platform. However, as AP Senior WriterKarandeep Singhnotesin this in-depth retrospective, WhatsApp has picked up plenty of new attributes since it came under Meta’s umbrella a decade ago. Some credit must go to alternative services like Telegram, which has led the pack in terms of feature additions, as evidenced by its rollout ofChannels way back in September 2015.
