Your WhatsApp groups just changed forever – and they could get even WORSE
WHATSAPP has massively boosted the number of people you can have in one group.
It's now possible to invite a head-spinning 512 people to a single chat.
That means your busiest conversations could get even more hectic.
"One of the top requests we've consistently received is the option to add more people to a chat," said .
"So now we're slowly rolling out the ability to add up to 512 people to a group.
"Building private, safe and secure communities takes work, and we think this series of improvements will help people and groups stay close to one another."
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WhatsApp group sizes were originally capped at 100 people, before changing to a limit of 256 in 2016.
But the latest update that's now rolling out doubles the group chat participant cap.
It comes before WhatsApp adds its long-awaited Communities feature.
This will let you create "parent groups" that contain lots of group chats within them.
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All change
That's not all that's changed for WhatsApp users in recent days.
WhatsApp has also added the ability to use -style message reactions.
This means you can quickly react to a message without having to send an entire text.
Mark Zuckerberg – who runs WhatsApp-owner – shared the news last week with a selection of reaction emoji.
They include thumbs up, love heart, crying with laughter, shocked face, sad tear, and pray (or high five).
WhatsApp has also increased the maximum size of files you can send in a chat.
Previously you couldn't send a file bigger than 100MB.
But the new cap has been raised twenty-fold, to 2GB.
These new features are rolling out right now, so keep checking your app (and app stores) for updates.
If you want to try upcoming features before everyone else, consider joining the WhatsApp beta to test changes using our guide below.
How to get WhatsApp beta
To download WhatsApp beta for your smartphone you need to go to Google Play on your Android and search for WhatsApp.
Scroll down the page until you see "Become a Beta Tester".
Tap the "I'm In" button and then click "Join" to confirm.
Now all you have to do is wait for the update to the beta version of the app.
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Joining the WhatsApp beta on iPhone is more difficult, and has limited capacity.
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