- WhatsApp Channels will let you broadcast messages to your followers without exchanging phone numbers.
- The service is also building a searchable directory for users to find channels for their favorite topics and local subjects.
- Channels are rolling out in Colombia and Singapore, with a wider global rollout planned for the coming months.
WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular instant messaging apps, but it is surprisingly slow to add new features. But the app has looked around and figured right now is the best time to add channels as a feature. Competing apps like Telegram have had channels for years, and even Instagram recently added Broadcast Channels. WhatsApp is now finally jumping on that train.
Channels on WhatsApp are a private way to broadcast messages, letting channel admins send messages one way. Admins can broadcast text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls into one chat, which users can subscribe to. Channels will exist in a new tab called Updates, where it will share space with status updates from your contact list.