Top WhatsApp features you may have missed out on in 2024

The year 2024 was game-changing for WhatsApp in a lot of ways. From making conversations more secure to giving us AI integration, Meta’s messaging giant brought in a bunch of standout features this year as well. And while we continue using it, there’s a good chance we may have missed out on some of them that hide in plain sight.

But there’s no need to go scouring for them, especially since we’ve curated a list of the 10 most crucial updates on WhatsApp that you may have missed out on this year.

10 essential WhatsApp features you may have missed this year

This year, the platform introduced many design and functional changes for its users. Read on to learn more about 10 of our favourite improvements from the year 2024.

1. Meta AI integration

2. Draft messages

3. Call filters: Introduced

4. Manage contacts on WhatsApp

5. WhatsApp Status likes

6. Mark all chats read

7. Create chat list

8. Create stickers natively

9. Tag Status updates

10. WhatsApp Events

1. Meta AI integration

WhatsApp’s integration with Meta AI was perhaps the platform’s biggest change in 2024. Since the roll out, the chatbot can perform multiple functions with just a prompt. From answering your queries to generating images, it evolved rapidly, giving users the reins to get creative in so many ways.

Today, the Meta AI chatbot allows users to communicate using voice chats. Apart from this, Meta AI today can also analyse and edit your images on WhatsApp. All you have to do is upload an image and ask the chatbot to describe it to you. Additionally, you can ask the bot to remove or modify existing elements from the picture.

ALSO READ: I used Meta AI on WhatsApp, and here’s everything it can do

At Meta Connect 2024, the company mentioned how it is planning to bring multiple other changes to the AI bot. But of course, we might just have to wait to find out what they are.

2. Draft message label

How many times have we begun typing something but had to stop midway because of an interruption? Way too many times. But this year, WhatsApp introduced a new feature which allows users to continue typing their ‘Draft’ messages.

This means when you exit the chat window, you will find your partially composed message intact with a Draft label. Although minor, we’re glad the change made its way to the stable version.

3. Call filters

WhatsApp calls also got a long-due upgrade after the platform introduced call filters. This change also pushes the app towards turning into a mainstream video-conferencing app.

New effects added to the app include Warm, Cool, Black & White, Light Leak, Dreamy, Prism Light, Fisheye, Vintage TV, Frosted Glass, and Duotone, giving users a wider pool to choose from when on a call.

Apart from this, WhatsApp has also thrown in background options for video calls, such as Blur, Living Room, Office, Café, Pebbles, Foodie, Smoosh, Beach, Sunset, Celebration, as well as Forest.

4. Manage contacts on WhatsApp

Messaging a new contact usually meant going through a great deal of effort. From saving it on your device to looking for it on your phone, the process, needless to say, was cumbersome. In 2024, WhatsApp changed this by giving users the option to manage their contacts better using only the smartphone app.

This new feature is ideal for times when you are sharing your phone with others or if you want to separate personal and business contacts. All you need to do is find a ‘+’ sign and find a ‘New Contact’ option. What’s even better is that the smartphone app also gives you the added choice of saving the contact on only the app, or the app and your device.

5. WhatsApp Status likes

WhatsApp and Instagram are known to borrow, or share, similar features, and one of the photo-sharing app’s popular features made its way to WhatsApp this year. So, the next time you see an update you like, you now have the option of tapping a green heart next to the reply bar.

The action will notify the original poster and, like Instagram, only allow them to go through the number of likes on their update.

6. Mark all chats read

Perhaps the most satisfying change of them all – WhatsApp now allows users to mark their unread chats ‘read’. All you have to do is select the bunch of chats in your list, tap the three-dot menu on the far-right corner of your screen and choose the ‘Mark as read’ option.

With this, users don’t have to physically open or close a chat and can simply get rid of the bulk with a tap. It seems as though the year 2025 is not for clutter, and we’re here for it.

7. Create chat lists

Productivity took the top spot for WhatsApp in 2024 as users got the option to create chat lists for different groups and contacts, keeping them separate from regular conversations on their lists.

By long pressing a particular chat, users will find an option to add it to a list. This list can be labelled ‘work’, ‘besties’ or even ‘foodies’ to find related conversations in one place.

The Meta-owned smartphone app mentioned how this is especially helpful for those users who deal with work and personal conversations on WhatsApp, at the same time.

8. Create stickers natively

The year 2024 brought joy to sticker enthusiasts with a new feature that now allows them to create one natively on the app. This comes in as a much-needed change, as it was earlier largely dependent on third-party apps. If that’s not all, WhatsApp also added in the possibility of creating a unique, customised sticker using only a prompt on Meta AI.

ALSO READ: WhatsApp may soon get reverse image search feature: What it can do for you

Other than that, users can crop, edit and modify images to turn them into stickers for their lively group conversations. That said, we still don’t have an organised sticker library on WhatsApp – but we’re certainly hoping the instant messaging app has it on the cards for 2025.

9. Tag Status updates

Another Instagram-like feature that came to WhatsApp in 2025 allows users to tag their friends on their status updates. This typically lets a user ‘mention’ their contacts from WhatsApp, who then can repost the image via their account. What’s more, users can also mention up to five people in their updates, leaving plenty of scope for engagement if required.

10. WhatsApp Events

Of course, we couldn’t end this list without an honourable mention of WhatsApp’s Events feature for group chats. A group member looking to create one can add in a description, name and date.

If that’s not all, they can also put additional details, including voice or video call updates, as well as a location if required. We’re sure this feature allowed a lot of Goa plans to step out of their respective group chats!

2024 was a busy year for WhatsApp, and we’re not complaining. And it also seems as though Meta has a lot of other features, such as chat themes, or animated reactions, that will be rolling out sometime soon. With all this kept in mind, we certainly can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for WhatsApp!