WhatsApp: Text Formatting Announced
Most awaited WhatsApp feature i.e. text formatting is now available for all on WhatsApp. Features are available for users running version 2.12.17 on iOS and version 2.12.535 for Android.
The latest addition can be used to add emphasis to certain words when sending messages. Users can add certain characters before and after the words or sentences to make them go bold, italic or with a line through the centre, known as a strikethrough.
To make text appear bold, type an asterisk before and after the text e.g. *ChannelsTelevision*
To make text appear italicised, the underscore character needs to be typed before and after the text e.g. _ ChannelsTelevision _
And to strikethrough a word, type the tilde character before and after the text e.g. ~ChannelsTelevision ~
Users can also additionally apply all three formats to a word: *~_ChannelsTelevision_~*
Recently, WhatsApp has also released an update which would display a progress percentage whenever an automatic local backup is in motion. However, the pop-up still blocks everything but it at least displays the percentage, so that one has a fair idea of how much time one will have to wait before the app is usable again. Another small change is the the phone number no longer shows up front and centre in the new Settings screen. The new profile section will only show the photo, name, and status, but not the phone number.
Along with this change, some new improvements have been made to the WhatsApp document file sharing feature too. One can now share a document through Google Drive. A report by points out that users can select a PDF, Word file or PowerPoint presentation file from Google Drive. Although, all of the files will be automatically converted to PDF format before sending it to other users.