WABetaInfo: WhatsApp is working on additional tools for formatting text messages

WhatsApp wants to add extra formatting functions to the chat service, so that users can more easily share quotes, code and lists with each other. WABetaInfo reports this based on a beta version of the desktop client.

Image via WABetaInfo

The three new features are a Code Block, a Quote Block and a bullet point list view. The Code Block can be invoked by placing text within the characters ` `, and allows users to share code with each other in an easier and more readable way.

The Quote Block feature allows users to write text, which will then appear as a quote block within a message. This allows users to more clearly indicate that they are responding to a specific part of the text instead of the current quote function, which quotes an entire message. Quote Block can be called up in the beta with the > sign.

The third new function is a list view, which can be called up with the – sign. The text behind this character is displayed as a bullet point in a message. WABetaInfo, which is regularly the first site to discover new WhatsApp features that will later come to the stable versions, says that the Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp will also get the new formatting features. It is not clear when the formatting functions should appear.