The latest beta release of WhatsApp features some basic text formatting options including bold and italics. While features in beta versions of WhatsApp often go missing – think back to Google Drive cloud backup which appeared and then took half a year to reappear – there’s little reason to think this won’t be rolling out to the Play Store version pretty soon.
See also: WhatsApp next on the government’s hit list in the great encryption debate7
Much like other apps that support formatting text, you simply add an asterisk to the start and end of a word you want to bold or underscores before and after words you want italicized. When you receive messages from someone with the latest version, their name will be bolded in the notifications shade too and the formatting of the message will also show up..
We’re not sure if there are plans to add additional formatting options like underlining or strikethroughs, but they would add a layer of fun to what is otherwise a fairly straightforward messaging app.
You can sign up for the WhatsApp beta testing program here and then update your WhatsApp version in the Play Store to try out the new changes.
What other formatting options would you like to see?
Leave A Comment