WhatsApp usually tries out new features on the beta channel which might be released to all users later on. We have seen such features as video calls, the old status coming back with a new name or other subtle changes that make the whole experience better on WhatsApp.
One of the subtle features WhatsApp added a while ago was basic text formatting where you could either bold, italicize or add a strikethrough to your message. We have enjoyed such features on text editors like Microsoft Words or on the back end of services like WordPress which they allow us to give a certain impact to the text that was not possible if the words were plainly written.
When WhatsApp introduced this feature, there was a “cheat code” of some kind to bold, italicize or add a strikethrough to your messages. To bold your text, you had to add asterisks before and after the word, italicize (add underscores before and after) and s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ (insert tildes ~).
Although we were grateful WhatsApp added these basic formatting features, they are tedious to be honest since you have to look for these special characters on your keyboard and insert them before and after the text effectively. That is why it is great that WhatsApp has made it easy to use these formatting features in an update on WhatsApp Beta For Android.
On WhatsApp beta for Android (ver 2.17.148), the company has added a newer way of adding these formatting styles. Just tap and hold to highlight your message and tap on the three dot options menu that comes with the cut, copy, paste and share pop-up. It will show the formatting styles where you can choose to your liking. There is also an addition of Monospace which gives your font a spaced out look.
That’s not all, you can also have your words translated right within WhatsApp. You must have Google Translate, which has the feature where you can get translations within other apps. On WhatsApp, you only need to highlight the message, tap on translate and it will automatically detect the language and give a translation. Pretty cool!
In addition, I’ve also discovered that you can also get dictionary definitions in the same manner. I have a dictionary app called Word Web (highly recommend it) which is also integrated right within WhatsApp. Just highlight the text and tap on ‘Word Web’ to understand a new vocabulary or something.
