New Year's Confetti and New Strict Rules#

January 1, 2026

Greetings to everyone following WhatsApp! This past week brought both bright holiday surprises and important system changes. This digest includes New Year's animations, a global update to the About section, an improved calling interface, and significant new rules for users in India.

Festive Confetti for Reactions#

WhatsApp is launching a feature this holiday season that displays confetti animations for emoji reactions.

How it will work#

When using certain holiday emojis (🎉 Popper, 🥂 Glasses, 🎊 Confetti, 😄 Party Face, 🍾 Champagne Bottle) as a message reaction, a colorful confetti animation will play on the screen. This effect is powered by lightweight Lottie technology to minimize system overhead.

Why it works#

This feature is designed to make chats more lively and emotional, and to match the festive spirit of New Year and Christmas.

Status#

The feature is already available to some iOS stable users and Android beta testers. As with last year, the animation will be active for a limited holiday period.

New Safety Rules for India#

India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved new cybersecurity rules that will directly affect WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and other messaging apps. Read a detailed article about these important changes on our blog.

How it will work#

According to the rules, platforms will be required to constantly check whether the SIM card linked to the account is active in the phone. This means a transition from a one-time OTP verification to continuous verification using the SIM card's IMSI number. Furthermore, WhatsApp Web sessions will automatically end every six hours, requiring re-authorization using a QR code.

Why is this necessary?#

Authorities say these measures are necessary to combat digital fraud, where fraudsters use accounts not linked to a physical SIM card, making them difficult to track.

Status#

Companies have 90 days to implement the new requirements. These rules will create difficulties for travelers and business users, who will have to re-authorize more frequently in the web version.

Updated About Me section#

The WhatsApp team has unveiled a major update to one of the messenger's most important features—the "About Me" section.

How it will work#

Your status will now appear as a prominent bubble under your profile photo in each individual chat. The main new feature is an auto-delete feature: you can set a timer for a period of several hours to a month, after which the status will disappear automatically. You can add emojis to your status, and reply to it directly from the chat.

Why it's needed#

This feature allows you to share relevant context ("Meeting with a client," "On vacation," etc.), which is automatically reset when it becomes outdated. This removes outdated information from your profile.

Status#

The update has been officially announced by WhatsApp and is currently rolling out to all users on mobile devices.

Chat History for New Group Members#

WhatsApp is developing a solution to help new members quickly integrate into active group chats. Read the full article about this important feature on our blog.

How it will work#

Group administrators will have a setting to automatically provide new members with a 24-hour message history (up to 1,000 messages). The history will be securely transferred to the new member using end-to-end encryption.

Why it's needed#

This is to ensure that new members of work chats, study groups, or interest groups can immediately understand the context of the discussion without asking unnecessary questions.

Status#

This feature is in active development and was discovered in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android. A release date has not yet been announced.

Improved Calls Tab#

The Calls tab on iOS is getting a major update, transforming it into a unified communications hub.

How it works#

The interface combines quick access to favorite contacts, a dial pad, a button for creating a new call (for up to 32 participants), and a call scheduling feature with a chat invitation. The ability to leave voice or video messages for missed calls has also been added.

Why it's needed#

This is to organize and speed up all your call-related activities, gathering them in one convenient place.

Status#

The update is already available to many WhatsApp for iOS users via the App Store and continues to roll out.

AI Backgrounds for Statuses#

The creative capabilities of WhatsApp's built-in AI are expanding to the status section.

How it will work#

When creating a status in the image editing menu, the "Filters" button may be replaced by an "Effects" button. This button provides access to neural network-generated styles: you can transform a photo into an anime-style painting, a 3D collage, a gothic painting, or a watercolor.

Why it's needed#

This feature allows users to quickly and easily create unique, artistic visual content for their statuses without using third-party apps.

Status#

This feature is in early testing and is available to a limited number of beta testers on Android.

Conclusion#

This week's results reflect WhatsApp's diverse development strategy, from adapting to global security requirements to adding light holiday touches. The messenger team continues to work to make group communication clearer and the interface more consistent and user-friendly.

At GREEN-API, we monitor all WhatsApp updates to provide you with the latest news and solutions for automating your business processes. Stay tuned to stay up-to-date with all the latest developments!