All you need to know about WhatsApp's new feature 'Channels'

HYDERABAD: Meta-owned WhatsApp will now be rolling out – ‘Channels’, a broadcast-based messaging feature, similar to the recent update on Instagram.

With this feature, admins of Channels will be able to send texts, photos, videos, stickers and polls and these will be one way conversations where the other users will not be able to reply to those messages.

Users will be able to join the channels through invite links. The tech giant is also building a directory where users will be able to find different channels of their likings such as their favourite sports teams, hobbies and so on.  A feature where the admins of the channels will be allowed to choose their discoverability will also be introduced, announced the company.

The new feature however, is being launched in select markets – Columbia and Singapore – as a pilot.

A number of high-profile international partners like the World Health Organization and sports teams like FC Barcelona and Manchester City are already on board, the company said.

Meta plans to roll out the feature to a broader set of countries soon.