WhatsApp Android beta starts testing Events for community group chats

WhatsApp has started testing the ability to create events in community group chats. WABetaInfo discovered that the feature has started rolling out to a limited number of testers running WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.9.20.

The "Event" option is available in the attachment panel and eligible testers who are part of a WhatsApp community group chat can use it to create events for occasions such as online meetings.

According to a screenshot of the feature, you can include details such as date, time, location, and link to a WhatsApp call when creating a new event in the app. You can choose whether to include a link to a video call or voice call in the event invitation.

Members in the community group chat can accept the event invitation and get notifications about any changes made by the creator. The website notes that WhatsApp's events feature is accessible via older beta versions, including 2.24.9.18 and 2.24.9.19, adding that it will roll out to more users in the coming weeks.

For reference, a WhatsApp Community lets you bring together multiple topic-based or relevant groups. You can create a community of up to 100 groups with up to 2,000 members in total, a support document says. WhatsApp automatically creates an Announcement group for each community, which admins can use to send messages to all community members.

Apart from that, WhatsApp is also exploring the feature for group chats outside of communities, as per WABetaInfo. WhatsApp is working on a stream of other features such as picture-in-picture mode, Favorites, default media upload quality, and support for third-party messaging platforms.

In recent months, the Meta-owned instant messaging app added several features, including video forward/rewind, up to 16 channel admins, and the ability to filter group chats. You can find chats easily using three filters at the top of your chat list.