WhatsApp Introduces New Text Formatting Features Globally and Tests Profile Picture Screenshot Protection
WhatsApp users globally received a set of four new text formatting options on Wednesday, enhancing communication on the platform. These options complement the existing formatting features, which include bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospace. The latest additions enable users to send messages in bulleted points, numbered lists, and two styles for quotes. This markdown-style syntax is available across WhatsApp for Android, iOS, Web, and Mac.
Gadgets 360 staff tested the new formatting options on WhatsApp for Android version 2.24.3.81 and the latest version of WhatsApp Web. The process is straightforward, with users adding a hyphen (-) at the start of a new line for a bulleted list, and typing ‘1.’ at the beginning of a line for a numbered list. Block quotes are created by adding a pipe symbol (|) before a sentence, while inline quotes use backticks (`) before and after a sentence. These options aim to provide a visually clean appearance to formatted text.
In addition to the text formatting update, WhatsApp is reportedly testing a feature to protect users from unauthorized screenshots of their profile pictures. This feature, identified in the Android beta build version 2.24.4.25, displays a black screen and a message stating, “Can’t take a screenshot due to app restrictions” when someone attempts to capture a screenshot. The goal is to add an extra layer of privacy protection for users. A similar feature is already present in the Facebook app, where users can activate the Profile Picture Guard option to prevent others from taking screenshots of their profile page or photos.
These updates showcase WhatsApp’s commitment to enhancing user experience and privacy on its platform. The new text formatting options provide users with additional ways to express themselves, while the screenshot protection feature adds a valuable layer of security for users’ profile pictures. These features are expected to be available to all users globally in the coming days.
