WhatsApp is working to give channel owners and admins some extra powers in a future update. WABetaInfo reports that the instant messaging platform started rolling out the channel forwarding feature to some beta testers running WhatsApp beta for Android v2.24.14.15.
The feature is said to be in development for a couple of months now and lets channel owners forward messages, photos, videos, and GIFs to their channels. On top of that, channel owners can share media from other apps, such as file explorer or photo library, directly to their channels.
The website notes that the upcoming feature helps channel owners get rid of the extra work of downloading media on their devices and manually uploading it to their channels. They can directly share media from personal chats and save some time. The feature will roll out to more beta users in the coming days.
It has been a year since WhatsApp Channels was introduced in June to have one-way communication and share updates with followers. In the following months, WhatsApp added some advanced filters to improve user experience and launched the feature globally.
WhatsApp continued to upgrade the feature by adding voice updates, polls, and up to 16 channel admins. If you want you can follow a channel on WhatsApp or create your own, you can do so by going to the Updates tab.
Speaking of which, the Meta-owned company is also working on a way to rank your Status updates, which are also displayed in the Updates tab. In addition, it"s testing a redesigned version of Status updates feature.
While you can react to or forward an update shared on a WhatsApp channel, you can not respond to them or send messages to channel admins. Unlike WhatsApp Groups, other users on a channel can"t see your name or activity, and admins can only see your profile picture depending on your privacy settings.
Source: WABetaInfo