WhatsApp offers dedicated channels to communicate from a single source with a large audience. The feature will come with a searchable guide so users can find channels to follow. Shareable channel links are also available.

Channels are on the Status tab, which has been renamed Updates. in screenshots Meta suggests examples: a city council, a football club, a channel where you can learn a new language, restaurant reviews, and some other opinions. In Channels, admins can share everything that also appears in regular chats: texts, photos, videos, stickers, and polls.

WABetaInfo discovered the feature nearly six years ago, in 2017, in application code. Why it took so long to release this functionality is not clear. according later Mining data From WABetaInfo, users cannot see other users in the channel. This would be a huge difference with Telegram, where you can, if the group admin allows it.

The Meta says in the ad to “offer” the functionality, but the functionality was not yet available on the Android device of the site below at the time of writing. Meta doesn’t explain which area will get the feature when.