Today, Meta announced a couple of new features coming to WhatsApp, including photo editing tools and the ability to use AI to generate a response to incoming messages.
Starting with the update to "Writing Help," the feature can now draft a suggested response based on your conversation, so you can get your message "just right," all while keeping your messages "completely private," according to Meta. Writing Help was launched last August, and it originally gave users a way to rephrase their own drafted messages.
The feature uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to analyze what you have written and suggest different ways to say it. There is a variety of tones to choose from, including professional or funny. The feature is opt-in, so you would have to hunt it down in the settings menu to enable it.
Still on the topic of generative AI, Meta AI on WhatsApp can now "touch up" photos directly in the chat composer. Before you hit send, you can use the AI to edit the image by removing a distracting object from the frame or swapping in a new background entirely. It can also apply different artistic styles to a picture. Meta notes that these AI features may not be available to everyone at launch.
For several years now, Android users have enjoyed the ability to switch between different accounts on a single device. Now, WhatsApp is bringing that capability over to iOS. This finally lets iPhone owners run two accounts simultaneously on one phone. To set it up, you would obviously need a compatible phone and a second number. You then just head to Settings, tap the arrow by your name, and select "Add account."
Other changes Meta announced include a simplified chat transfer process that now supports moving your history from iOS to Android. The company also added new storage management options, letting you find and get rid of large files within a specific chat without deleting the entire conversation. Finally, the app will now suggest relevant stickers when you type an emoji.