What are 'channels' on WhatsApp?

Meta-owned WhatsApp has been working on newsletters for the future update of the app, which are now called channels, said the app-tracking website WaBetaInfo.

According to the WhatsApp tracker, the new update is currently under development and is not yet ready to be released to beta testers.

The messaging app had been working on newsletters — one-to-many tool for broadcasting information — through which users will get useful updates from people they want to get updates from. 

These channels will be available in separate and optional sections in the Status tab which is now called "updates". Users will also find a revamped interface for status updates in the tab.

"A WhatsApp Channel is marked as a private tool since phone numbers and user information joining a channel are always hidden. However, messages received within a channel won’t be end-to-end encrypted as the concept of one-to-many referred to channels wouldn’t make much sense as a large number of users will be able to subscribe to a channel," said WaBetaInfo. 

The end-to-end encrypted private messages will not be affected by the channels as they themselves are end-to-end encrypted. 

Users will also be in control over which channels they want to subscribe to and no one else would be able to see who they follow even if they are added to their contacts. 

Moreover, people will not be auto-subscripted to the channels as there are no algorithmic recommendations or social graphs that would show users content that they don't choose to see. 

Users will easily search for a specific WhatsApp channel by entering their username which will eliminate the need to navigate to external websites. This update will provide users with their preferred updates as it is designed to improve the accessibility of channels.