WhatsApp is preparing to launch a new feature: double-tap message responses. This has long been a fixture of Instagram direct messages, and WhatsApp will adopt it from the other Meta attribute.
The functionality is presently being tested on Android and will be included in the next beta release. To use it, you must be a member of WhatsApp for Android’s beta channel, which you can find on its Play Store listing – that is, if there are any spots available, which there seldom are.
As the name indicates, the new feature enables you to swiftly add a response to any message with a double touch. You may respond to photographs, videos, and GIFs right from the media viewer interface, saving milliseconds each time. Furthermore, double tapping on a message to respond saves you some nanoseconds, which would otherwise be spent long pressing and selecting your response.
Double tapping will trigger a heart emoji, exactly like on Instagram. If you wish to respond with a different emoji, you must still long press the one you’re reacting to to bring up the response tray and choose one from there.
Interestingly, there will be no option to stop this double tap to respond function, which might be troublesome for certain users who may mistakenly reply to old messages when browsing through their chat history.
