WhatsApp, the premier encrypted messaging app, is rumoured to be developing a new feature dubbed the Communities feature. The likelihood of such a functionality was initially mentioned by XDA Developers in October.
The Communities feature looks to provide group administrators additional control over their groups. This includes the option to establish groups inside groups, which is similar to how channels are organised within a Discord community. The ‘Community’ feature was discovered in WhatsApp’s most recent beta version, 2.21.21.6.
For example, communities should include a system of invites by link or QR code so that others may join in and contribute. “Anyone with a WhatsApp account can join this community by clicking on this link.” Simply share it with people you trust,” a snippet from a message found in the beta version by XDA Developers says. WhatsApp may be trying to bridge the gap between itself and other messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal by introducing a Communities-like feature. Earlier this year, WhatsApp’s revised privacy policy confused users about what it would share with parent company Facebook, resulting in a mass exodus to those other apps.
The Community feature might also provide admins additional control over groups and a channel for them to share messages with the rest of the community. It might also give users more roles, such as community managers. While many people feel that the groups and community features will coexist, there are those who believe that the moniker “groups” will be replaced with “community” in the new version.
At the moment, there is no official confirmation from the company because the evidence of this new feature is only found in the beta code of the WhatsApp app. However, this is only an APK breakdown, and it may or may not be included in future releases because it has yet to be tested or implemented, and it may be removed by WhatsApp developers
