Most of my friends and family use WhatsApp instead of Telegram to send a chat message. And much to my relief, the messaging app that has since been acquired by Facebook (now named Meta) released a number of new features in 2022 in an effort to keep up with the competition.
WhatsApp’s ability to “react” to a message is a great way to express yourself without having to write anything out. When I want to let you know how I feel about text chat, image, or video you sent to me on WhatsApp, I just use the “react” option.
The emoji react feature became available to Android, iOS, and desktop users after a successful beta testing that ended in March of 2022. WhatsApp message reactions is available for users running Android 2.22.10.74 and iOS 22.9.76.
How to react to a WhatsApp message with an emoji – Android and iOS
- The first step is to long press on the message (this can be a text chat, image or video). Holding the message for long will bring up a menu with several options.
- Next, tap on the “+” sign to show a list of reactions to choose from.
- Finally, tap on the emoji you wish to use in reaction to the message. The reaction will be added to the message and will be visible to everyone in the chat.
Any WhatsApp user can react to individual or group chat messages using the emoji WhatsApp reaction feature. If you click the reactions emoji that appears beneath a message, you’ll see everyone who also reacted to that message.
A few things to keep in mind when using reactions on WhatsApp
- You can only add one reaction per message.
- Reactions to disappearing messages will disappear when the message disappears.
- It’s not possible to hide reactions or reaction counts.
- Recipients might see your reaction before you remove it or if removing it wasn’t successful. 5. You won’t be notified if removing a reaction wasn’t successful.
- When you add a reaction, only the sender of the message being reacted to will receive a notification.
- You can also change your reaction to a different one.
- You can remove your reaction to a message if it was by mistake. However, a notification won’t be sent to the sender of the message once the emoji has been removed.
How to use message reaction on WhatsApp Web and Desktop
Message reactions can also be used on Windows as well as macOS. The feature is very similar to the mobile version, only that it requires a different input method on the web and desktop versions. Try the steps below, anytime you use WhatsApp on the web or the desktop app:
- To react, simply move the cursor over the exact message. A tiny emoji icon should appear next to the message.
- Click the emoji icon to show the emoji selection pop-up.
- In the pop-up, click the emoji reaction you want to use. Your emoji reaction will appear below the message.
