On Wednesday, WhatsApp introduced four new text formatting options that will be available to users worldwide. These additions expand upon the existing features of bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospace text formatting. The newly introduced features will enable users to create messages with bullet points, numbered lists, and two distinct styles for quotes. This markdown-style formatting is accessible on WhatsApp for Android, iOS, Web, and Mac platforms. Concurrently, the messaging service is reportedly exploring a feature aimed at preventing malicious users from taking screenshots of profile pictures.
Staff from Gadgets 360 were able to evaluate the new formatting options on WhatsApp’s Android version 2.24.3.81 and the most recent version of WhatsApp Web. The formatted text is visually appealing, and the process of applying the formatting is user-friendly. To create a bullet point, users need to type a hyphen ( – ) at the beginning of a new line. After inserting a space, the hyphen automatically transforms into a bullet point. Each new line will generate another bullet point, while pressing the backspace key will halt the bullet point function.
For numbered lists, the process is straightforward—users simply type the number one (1) followed by a period ( . ) and hit space to initiate the list. The numbered list will not activate if any number other than one is used, or if a non-numbered sentence is incorporated into the sequence. The third formatting option allows for block quotes, achieved by placing a pipe symbol ( | ) before the desired sentence. To trigger it, users can type the ‘greater than’ symbol ( > ) and follow it with a space.
The final formatting option is the inline quote, which displays a message within a greyed-out bubble. To implement this style in WhatsApp, users should place the backtick symbol ( ` ) before and after the sentence, ensuring no spaces are included in between. These formatting options are being rolled out globally and are expected to reach all users shortly.
In another development, WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo identified that the platform is working on a feature designed to safeguard users’ profile pictures against unauthorized screenshots. This feature, found in the Android beta build version 2.24.4.25, will present a black screen accompanied by a message stating, “Can’t take a screenshot due to app restrictions,” whenever someone attempts to capture a screenshot. This addition aims to enhance user privacy on the platform. A comparable feature is already active on the Facebook app for mobile devices, allowing users to activate the Profile Picture Guard option, which prohibits others from taking screenshots of the profile picture or associated page once enabled.
