{"id":786747,"date":"2024-08-14T09:59:52","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T07:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=786747"},"modified":"2024-08-14T09:59:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T07:59:59","slug":"3-big-changes-for-whatsapp-from-ai-voice-chat-to-avatars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/786747\/3-big-changes-for-whatsapp-from-ai-voice-chat-to-avatars\/","title":{"rendered":"3 big changes for WhatsApp – from AI voice chat to avatars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WhatsApp constantly reinvents itself, with major updates for the general public and testers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meta-owned company is one of the largest messaging services in the world, and most smartphone owners in South Africa have a profile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its sheer popularity, WhatsApp will test its new features with beta testers first to identify potential bugs before releasing them to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data service\u00a0WABetaInfo<\/a> breaks down the latest Android, iOS and Web beta developments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are three changes that the data service has highlighted recently:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

AI Voices <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a beta for Android, WABetaInfo said that WhatsApp is currently experimenting with a new voice chat mode to communicate with Meta AI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mode will allow users to engage with Meta AI in real time through conversations in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the voice chat mode is still under development, WhatsApp seems to be making progress toward its release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WhatsApp is exploring the ability to change the AI voice, with users being allowed to pick from 10 different voices for Meta AI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users will be allowed to experiment with the different voices to find one that best fits their needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In our opinion, the ability to choose a different voice can make interactions with Meta AI feel more personalized and engaging in the future,” said WABetaInfo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Event management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new public update for IOS has brought the possibility of creating events in regular group chats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The option to organize events allows users to input event details such as the name, description, date, and optional location and choose between a voice or video call. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once an event starts, all members who accepted the invitation will receive a notification to keep them informed of the latest news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of these event details are end-to-end encrypted, meaning that participants in the group chat will have access to the information while still maintaining privacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those that do not have the feature, some accounts may need to wait a few weeks to receive the update. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Avatar Visibility <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new Android Beta showed that WhatsApp is working on a new update that will allow users to make their avatars visible in their profiles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Specifically, other users will be able to see your avatar when they swipe your profile picture in the chat info screen, providing an additional layer of personalization and identity,” said WABetaInfo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This feature will enhance how users represent themselves in chats by giving their contacts a quick way to view their avatar alongside their profile details.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We can also confirm that this feature will be very similar to the one already available on Instagram, where avatars are displayed in user profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users will be prompted to update to get the new look through a new notification as it goes live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once updated, users’ avatars will automatically reflect their new look, but they can still edit them to match their preferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We believe that this update will offer users more ways to personalize how they present themselves and ensure their profile avatars remain fresh and representative of their current style.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read<\/strong>: R30 million payday for Reserve Bank bosses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WhatsApp is incredibly popular in South Africa, with the Meta-owned messaging company constantly updating with new features. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":643247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-786747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":786752,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786747\/revisions\/786752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}