The TestFlight beta Program has recently received a new update from WhatsApp, bringing the software version to 22.19.0.72. The TestFlight build is 22.19.0, while the version indicated in WhatsApp Settings is 2.22.19.72. (396347817).
What has been added in this update? Some lucky beta testers will soon be able to launch communities on WhatsApp
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Communities |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | WhatsApp beta for iOS 22.19.0.72 is marked as compatible update. |
| I have the same version but I don’t have this feature, why? | This feature has only been rolled out to some lucky beta testers and more activations are planned over the coming weeks. |
| Thanks: | Sed36 and Amethyst, for testing and reporting! |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.20.4: what’s new? WhatsApp is working on moving the privacy section to the main settings screen! |
We published information on communities, a new feature that enables us to organise our relevant groups, such as the ones regarding neighbourhoods and schools, in the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.19.3 upgrade. This functionality has been made available to a select group of lucky Android beta testers, and today there is news regarding the iOS beta:
If the communities tab has taken the place of the camera tab on your WhatsApp account, as seen in the screenshot, you can tell right away if the function is enabled. With this first iteration of the functionality, you can add as many as 50 groups afterwards. These groups, which are referred to as sub-groups, can be joined by community members based on their interests. You can add up to 10 sub-groups when building the community. Within a unique read-only announcement group where only community admins may send messages, community members can also receive messages from community admins.
When you join a sub-group, your phone number is currently always accessible to all other community members. However, a future update from WhatsApp will allow users to hide their phone number from all other group members.
Even though this beta version is labelled as a compatible upgrade, that does not imply you will be able to immediately start a community because WhatsApp is only starting a very small test and only a select few lucky beta testers will have access to communities. Additionally, despite being included to a community, you are unable to use it because the feature is not made available to you. You must thus wait till a subsequent update makes the feature available for your WhatsApp account. Unfortunately, we do not yet have a release date for the feature's wider deployment, but we will let you know as soon as we have more information to give.
If you want to learn more about upcoming WhatsApp beta updates and features for Android, iOS, Web/Desktop, and Windows, follow WABetaInfo!
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