WhatsApp’s new feature to allow you to message yourself

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has rolled out a much-awaited feature that lets you message yourself. The feature works just like your other chats on the platform. You'll be able to send all the essential information, which you might want to keep as reminders or important notes, to yourself.

Called 'Message Yourself', the feature was rolled out as a beta test several weeks ago but will soon be introduced for Android and iOS users worldwide, the company has said.

The feature, which was first spotted by WaBetaInfo, lets you send all sorts of information like shopping lists, notes, and reminders to yourself on WhatsApp. As part of the update, you will see your mobile number at the top of the contact list while sending a message on the platform. Once you tap on the contact, a chat screen that mentions your name will open, where you can store your messages.

The feature can be helpful if you want to send important information to yourself, which otherwise could go unheeded. So far, users could massage themself using the "click to chat" feature or by creating a single-person group.

WhatsApp’s rival platform Signal also offers a similar feature, though it does not show on the top of the contact list like WhatsApp's 'Message Yourself' feature.

The Meta-owned company this month had also launched Communities, a major update to allow people to connect in groups. This new update allows communities like neighbourhoods, parents at schools, and workplaces to connect multiple groups together to organise group conversations on WhatsApp.

Once you’re in a community, you can easily switch between available groups to get the information you need and admins can send important updates to everyone in the community.

"There’s a lot more we plan to build and we’ll keep adding features over the coming months. For now, we’re excited to get this into more people’s hands and hear your feedback too," said WhatsApp.

In addition, WhatsApp has also rolled out features like the ability to create in-chat polls, 32-person video calls, and groups with up to 1,024 users. Just like emoji reactions, larger file sharing, and admin deletion -- these features can be used in any group but will be particularly helpful for Communities, said WhatsApp.

India is one of the biggest markets for WhatsApp, where it has the most monthly active users at around 390 million. However, both Meta India and WhatsApp India are embroiled in a legal tussle with the Indian government regarding alleged infringement of data privacy as well as anti-competitive activity.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led company is under the Competition Commission of India’s radar since it introduced its privacy policy last year. Like in other countries, the CCI is investigating WhatsApp and Facebook over alleged violation of users’ privacy and competition norms through their privacy policy.