Here's What's New in the Latest WhatsApp Update

We love an update--new features, new stability, a fresh look at the apps we use each and every day. Now, it's WhatsApp turn once again to add new changes to the messaging app virtually everyone with a smartphone uses. This time around, we see updates to two major tentpoles in the app: polls and captions.

Updates to polls in WhatsApp

Anyone who uses WhatsApp to ask their friends and family questions will appreciate these changes. First, you're now able to create single-vote polls in WhatsApp threads. This special type of poll blocks respondents from answering more than once, so you avoid muddying up the poll with multiple opinions. If you really need to know what a group thinks, a single-vote poll might be the way to go.

Next, it's now much easier to return to a poll once the chat has moved on. You no longer need to scroll through your threads until you find the poll. Instead, you can simply search for it, and filter messages by polls. It works exactly the same as filtering for photos, videos, or URLs. You can search for polls by opening the "Chats" page, pressing "Search," then choosing "Polls" to see all polls.

Finally, it's now a lot easier to know when people have responded to your polls, because WhatsApp will tell you every time they do. The new update supports notifications whenever someone answers your poll, so you can stay more passively engaged with the answers, rather than checking in every other minute to see who answered what.

Updates to captions in WhatsApp

The second tentpole this update covers deals with captions. WhatsApp now allows you to keep, delete, or edit captions attached to photos when you forward them to another chat. If the photo doesn't have a caption to start with, you can add one yourself. That helps supply context to the image without having to send a separate message after the fact.

This also applies to documents, as well: Whether you send over a PDF from work or an interesting article you want a friend to read, you can add a caption to explain why you're sending the text to begin with.

How to install WhatsApp's latest update

WhatsApp's new update is starting to come out to users around the world beginning today. However, they're taking a few weeks to fully roll out the changes, so it's possible you won't see them right away. Keep checking the App Store or Play Store for the latest update, which may arrive today or by the end of the month.

The app may update automatically, but if not, you can update it yourself. On Android, open the Play Store app, tap your profile icon, choose Manage Apps & device, then tap "Update" next to WhatsApp, when available. On iOS, open the App Store, tap your profile icon, refresh the page by dragging down, then hit "Update" next to WhatsApp, when available.