Technical / WhatsApp Web features that you need to try right now

Whatsapp rolled out a web-friendly version of its app in the year 2015. WhatsApp Web added another dimension to the utility of the app by allowing users to access the app on their desktops. It offers almost all the features offered by the mobile app but one. Users cannot make voice or video calls using WhatsApp Web. However, WhatsApp Web is full of features that make using the app a fun experience.

So, here are some of the most useful and user-friendly features of WhatsApp Web that you need to try out:

1. Use two accounts simultaneously:

If you are accessing WhatsApp on Google Chrome, you can use two accounts simultaneously. While the first account can be used in the normal mode, the second account can be accessed in the Incognito mode of the Chrome app.

WhatsApp traditionally allows users to access only one account in a single browser. But you can use this workaround to access multiple WhatsApp accounts in a single browser.

2. WA Toolkit Extension

You can do two things by adding this extension to your browser:

-- Background Notification: This eliminates the need for you to switch to the app to read a message. You can read an unread message simply by hovering over the extension icon. In addition to that, you can also check the number of unread messages that you have.

-- Full width chat bubble: WhatsApp by default does not stretch the chat bubble to the full breadth of the chat window, as a result the message appears in multiple lines. This happens even if there is space available in the previous line. This tool can fix this issue by stretching the chat bubble to the chat window’s full width.

3. Emoji shortcut

WhatsApp Web has an emoji icon on the left side of the text bar. Clicking on it, opens the entire library of emojis available in the app. However, there is a shortcut using which you can access any emoji without opening the emoji tray. All you need to do is type the first two letters of the reaction emoji that you want to use after putting a colon. Doing this will replace the text with the relevant emoji. For example: If you want to send a sad emoji to a friend, type “:sa”.

4. Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode

The Picture-in-Picture mode was rolled out for WhatsApp users in the year 2018. This feature is also supported by the web version of the app. It allows you to watch videos from various sources, including Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, without leaving the app. The video usually plays in the top right corner of the chat window, allowing users to watch the video and chat simultaneously.