WhatsApp will let you know when people are talking about you

(Image credit: Pixabay)

WhatsApp is great at letting you know when you have received a new message, but also gives you the option of quietening notifications for those times when you don’t want to be disturbed. Now there is a new preview version of the app available that introduces an important upgrade to notifications that make them even more useful.

While a recent update added profile photos so you can easily see who has messages you, this new update takes things a step further. The change concerns notifications, and it means that you can more easily tell who has replied to you, or mentioned you, in a group message.

If another member of a group chat replies to a message you have posted, or if they @ mentions you, the notification you see now includes the profiles picture of the person in question. Again, this is a relatively minor change, but it is a tweak that can make a world of different to usability.

While you need to update to the latest preview build of WhatsApp in TestFlight in order to access all of the latest features as options, making the upgrade is not necessarily a guarantee that you will be able to see these new notifications images.

Keep informed

This latest change is just the latest update to notifications, and it comes hot on the heels of the addition of profile photos to notifications in iOS. But this most recent update is about more than just changes to notifications.

As WABetaInfo notes, with this beta version, WhatsApp has also changes the way app version numbers are formatted. While the previous version of WhatsApp for iOS was 2.22.1.1, the latest is now listed as 22.1.71 – quite a jump. However, if you check within the settings of the app, it is shown to be 2.22.1.71, and it's not clear when – or, indeed, if – the two will be brought in line with each other.

Here's how to use WhatsApp

Via WABetaInfo

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.

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