WhatsApp on Tuesday announced minor but important features to group chats. Group members can now use @all to call out everyone, and there is now a simpler way to create new group chats from existing groups. Polls in group chats also get a minor but useful update.

Starting with the @all update, you can use it to call out everyone’s attention. Think about the times when you had to notify people about some urgent messages, and you had to use the @ to mention a few people. Now, you can notify everyone instantly with the @all. The feature can be used by everyone in groups of up to 32 people. Only admins will be able to use the @all in groups larger than 32 people.

Polls in group chats are receiving three new updates. Poll creators can now set an end time to secure voting when the time is up; no other person will be able to vote after. Voters’ names can also be hidden for privacy, so every other person can vote freely without any influence. If there is a typo or an error on a poll question, it can now be edited within 15 minutes of posting.

Lastly, with just a single tap, a new group can be created with the same people in an existing group.

WhatsApp recognises that being mentioned constantly with @all can be annoying and disturbing. Hence, users remain in control and can still mute @all at any time in notification settings.

WhatsApp remains one of the most widely used messaging apps, with more than 3 billion monthly users globally.

Image: WhatsApp