WhatsApp is Rolling Out New Formatting Features

WhatsApp has introduced a new slew of features with its latest build, which includes new text formatting tools. It also adds new customization features like app themes. The text formatting tools allow Android and iOS users an assortment of formatting options, such as the ability to add code blocks, quote blocks, numbered lists, and bullet lists. These are additions to the existing ability to bold, italicize, and strikethrough text that have been available for a while. Users can utilize these features by using specific syntaxes and shortcuts. This works as follows:

• Code Block: Inserting "`" before and after a sentence transforms the text into a code block.

• Quote Block: Starting and ending a message with the ">" symbol creates a quote block.

• Ordered Lists: To create a bulleted list, use either "-" or "*" before a sentence, while numbering initiates a numbered list.

• Users can also create stickers from photos and edit stickers with decoration tools. WhatsApp has been testing these new formatting features since August 2023.

It has indicated that these features will be available on both the web app and all mobile apps, not just the Android and iPhone apps. Users can also use ">" to highlight portions of their messages and use "-" or "*" to create bulleted lists. Numbered lists can be created by adding a number before the message, and it will happen automatically. Editing stickers works by tapping the sticker icon in chat, navigating to the sticker tab, and tapping "+" to use the new sticker creator.

As of writing this article, we haven't managed to test out these features on Android or iPhone, but WhatsApp could be rolling out these features in a staggered way as many users are starting to report their arrival. These features had first emerged on the beta Android version 2.24.29 and iOS version 23.21.1.75. It has showed up on Apple test flight as version 24.2.10.