Latest WhatsApp Update Shifts Focus to Android N, Download Available for Free

WhatsApp was once available as a paid-for application, however, this $0.99 annual fee was scrapped sometimes back,meaning that it’s now available as a free to use app.

Much more like other Android apps, the latest version of this Facebook-owned app shifts its focus to the latest Android Naesthetics as well as features. There are new camera features, new functionalities as well as a refreshed look. The latestWhatsApp brings to the fold new ways of formatting messages as well as quickly replying to messages, be it on a phone orAndroid Wear device. Yes, you read it right – WhatsApp can now be used on Android Wear devices.

The use of special characters around messages has become vast in the latest days. Many users of chat apps are in love withemojis, stickers and emoticons and since WhatsApp is aware of this, it has made things even sweeter for its more than a billionusers. The latest version enables users to format their messages using special characters, thus, you can bold, italicize orstrikethrough texts. These can be done by adding special characters before and after the text to be bolded, italicized or strokethrough. Adding asterisks after and before a word will bold it, adding underscores will result in italicized words while adding atilde will strike through the text in question.

Other than the above features, the latest version of WhatsApp also adds a new way of archiving, deleting or muting multiplechats at once. Simply tap and hold on a chat and select the other chats you would wish to apply a collective command to. It isalso possible to customize chats such that each has a different color. It gets even better as the new app also comes with a newQuick Camera button that can be seen when inside a chat. Hitting this button will allow you pick a photo or video stored in yourphone’s gallery or even capture a new one.

Update available for free download from the Play Store

In order to take advantage of the new features in WhatsApp, you must first of all update to the newest version via the GooglePlay Store. However, remember that you can only take full advantage of these features if you are using Android 2.1 and above.

Even though rumors have been rife that the next version of WhatsApp might include a video calling feature, well, it is not thisone. Hopefully, the update will be here sooner than later.

Have you updated to the latest version of WhatsApp on your Android device? Do you like the updates you see? Please let usknow more about your experience via the comments section.