Introduction:
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over two billion active users. While many people use the app on a daily basis, there are several lesser-known features that can enhance the user experience. In this response, we’ve highlighted four of these features, including pinning chats, marking chats as unread, starring messages, and text formatting.
Pinning Chats in WhatsApp
Pinning chats is a feature that allows you to pin your most important or frequently used chats to the top of your WhatsApp chat list. This way, you can quickly access the chats you use the most without scrolling through your entire chat list. To pin a chat, simply long press on the chat you want to pin, and then tap on the “Pin” icon. You can pin up to three chats, and you can unpin a chat at any time by long press on the pinned chat and tapping on the “Unpin” icon.
On iPhone: Swipe right on the chat you want to pin, then tap Pin.
On Android: Tap and hold the chat you want to pin, then tap Pin chat
Mark as Unread in WhatsApp
The “Mark as Unread” feature is useful if you want to remember to respond to a particular chat later. It allows you to mark a chat as unread even if you’ve already read it. To mark a chat as unread, simply long-press on the chat, and then select “Mark as Unread.” The chat will be marked with a blue dot, indicating that it’s unread. You can mark a chat as read again by long-pressing on the chat and selecting “Mark as Read.”
Star Messages in WhatsApp
The “Star Messages” feature allows you to save important messages so that you can easily find them later. To star a message, simply long-press on the message, and then select “Star.” The message will be saved to your “Starred Messages” folder, which you can access by tapping on the three-dot menu icon and selecting “Starred Messages.” You can unstar a message by long-pressing on the starred message and selecting “Unstar.”
Text Formatting in WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s text formatting feature allows you to format your messages to add emphasis or clarity to your messages. You can use three types of formatting – bold, italic, and strikethrough. To format text as bold, add an asterisk (*) before and after the text you want to make bold (e.g., bold). To format text as italic, add an underscore (_) before and after the text (e.g., italic). To format text as strikethrough, add a tilde (~) before and after the text (e.g., strikethrough). The formatted text will appear in the chat as bold, italic, or strikethrough. This feature can be useful when you want to highlight certain words or phrases in your messages.
WhatsApp allows you to format text inside your messages. Please note, there’s no option to disable this feature.
Italic : To italicize your message, place an underscore on both sides of the text: _text_
Bold : To bold your message, place an asterisk on both sides of the text: *text*
Strikethrough :To strikethrough your message, place a tilde on both sides of the text: ~text~
Monospace : To monospace
 your message, place three backticks on both sides of the text: “`text“`
Note: Alternatively, you can use shortcuts on Android and iPhone.
- Android: Tap and hold the text you’re entering in the text field, then choose Bold, Italic, or More. Tap More to choose Strikethrough or Monospace.
- iPhone: Tap the text you’re entering in the text field > Select or Select All > B_I_U. Then, choose Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, or Monospace.
Closing Remarks
WhatsApp’s features are constantly evolving, and it’s always a good idea to explore the app’s settings to see what new features are available. By utilizing features like pinning chats, marking chats as unread, starring messages, and text formatting, you can improve your messaging experience and communicate more effectively with your contacts. With these features, you can easily keep track of important chats, highlight important messages, and add emphasis to your messages. Try them out and see how they can help you streamline your conversations on WhatsApp.
History of WhatsApp
WhatsApp is a popular messaging app that allows users to send text messages, make voice and video calls, share files, and more. The app was founded in 2009 by two former Yahoo employees, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, who wanted to create a messaging service that was simple, reliable, and secure. The app quickly gained popularity, and in 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion.
Facebook is now known as Meta, and it is a social media company that owns several popular platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR. Meta was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and a group of fellow college students, and it started as a social networking site for Harvard students. The company quickly grew and expanded to other universities, and eventually became available to the general public. Today, Meta is one of the largest tech companies in the world, with billions of users across its various platforms. Its mission is to “connect the world” by providing people with easy and convenient ways to communicate and share information.